Pioneer 10: Interplanetary Magnetic Field Measurements in RTN Coordinates, 1972-1975

1972-03-03 to 1975-11-17 of 1-minute averaged vector components and scalar magnitudes of the interplanetary magnetic field from the Pioneer 10 Helium Vector Magnetometer. The data includes radial, tangential, and normal components in nT, spacecraft event time tags, and a separate file for one-way light time delays. The dataset was produced by NASA JPL and is archived by the National Space Science Data Center.

Use Cases

• Modeling solar wind propagation based on magnetic field vector components in RTN coordinates.
• Analyzing temporal variations in the interplanetary magnetic field magnitude from 1-minute averages.
• Correlating spacecraft position with magnetic field data using the provided light time delay corrections.
• Studying the structure of the heliosphere using vector magnetic field data aligned with the solar equatorial plane.

Strengths

• Data covers over 3.5 years from March 1972 to November 1975.
• Provides three vector components (Br, Bt, Bn) and scalar magnitudes, all in standardized RTN coordinates.
• Includes auxiliary data for one-way light time delays to correct for signal travel time.

Limitations

• Data for the Jupiter encounter in late 1973 is explicitly not included.
• Row count and file sizes are unknown; some files are noted to be shorter, particularly at year boundaries.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred from the provided SFDU metadata file.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Collection Method

Measurements from the Helium Vector Magnetometer (HVM) instrument aboard the Pioneer 10 spacecraft.

Time Range

1972-03-03 to 1975-11-17

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 05:37:32.835252; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Interplanetary space along the Pioneer 10 trajectory (cruise phase).