a target of opportunity for SPS assessment, is that a mother satellite releasing Ba and Li will also release instrumented daughter satellites as diagnostic tools. Studies on momentum exchange of the injected plasma with the ambient plasma and tracing the redistribution and acceleration of the injected plasma in the magnetosphere, among others, will throw some light on the fate of Ar+ in the magnetosphere. Less certain longer term targets of opportunity may be the NASA OPEN (Origin of Plasmas in the Earth's Neighborhood, see NASA, 1979) program. 3. GREYHOUND and other ion beam/ion engine operations in space. GREYHOUND is a proposed test of ion engine space transportation in the 1985 time frame. In the same time frame, a Japanese/US experiment on Spacelab I will also test plasma beams, but the power will probably not be high enough for resolution of the Ar+ ion beam problem. We suggest that an experiment, perhaps a slight modification of the GREYHOUND operation, with diagnostic configuration of the FIREWHEEL type (mother-daughter satellites) and instrumentation of the SCATHA-type on the mother satellite, would be needed to study the short-term fate of the Ar+ beam. The question of how to observe Ar"*" ions optically must also be addressed. Calcium (Ca ) has the potential of being easily observable, and of having a mass very close to that of argon. GREYHOUND seems to be a target of opportunity in the 1985 time frame. 4.6.4 Starfish and Other Past Nuclear Explosions (Palmadesso) The question asked is: Should Starfish and other past nuclear explosions be considered as part of the experimental data base for SPS assessment? The conclusion is generally negative for the following reasons: 1. Nuclear phenomenology is substantially different from SPS phenomenology. 2. The nuclear data base is incomplete. With some exceptions, data taking was confined to low altitudes and short times after the burst. Late time and high altitude physical effects, which offer the greatest promise of similarity to the SPS phenomenology, were not well diagnosed. 3. Examples of physical effects apparently similar to SPS phenomena, which on closer examination are not worth pursuing, are the following: (a) Starfish produced enhancements in the number of very energetic radiation belt electrons that persisted for several years. These are thought to be due to fission beta particles rather than to any reduction in precipitation as discussed in Section 4.4.1.
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