How The Instrument Works
A spectrometer inside the instrument measured the energy from two sources of space radiation: galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and solar energetic particles (SEP). As the spacecraft orbited the red planet, the spectrometer swept through the sky and measured the radiation field.
The instrument, with a 68-degree field of view, was designed to collect data continuously during Mars Odyssey's cruise from Earth to Mars. It stored large amounts of data for downlink, and operated throughout the entire science mission.
Read more about this topic: Mars Radiation Environment Experiment
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