A study of positrons from Soviet nuclear powered satellites as tracers for magnetospheric research

Two Soviet satellites carrying nuclear reactors operated in circular 790 km orbits (65 deg inclination) in 1987 and 1988. Positrons generated in the satellites' surfaces by the intense reactor gamma radiation escaped and were trapped for periods of minutes to hours in the geomagnetic field. These positrons have been observed on many occasions by gamma ray sensors on the SMM satellite (in 500 km orbit) which identify the positrons by the 511 keV gamma rays created when they annihilate in the satellite surface. The SMM detector provides a time resolution of 64 milliseconds. It has recorded positron rise-times of less than 0.5 second (corresponding to about 1 positron gyroradius) on many occasions as it encounters the low-L edge of positrons injected by the Soviet satellites as far as half-way around the earth. The potential was studied of these sharply defined positron shells as magnetospheric tracers and as a means for examining particle diffusion and loss processes.