PEPÉ is one of the new proof of technology instruments developed to fly on NASAs first New Millennium Mission Spacecraft, Deep Space 1. The instrument was developed jointly by the Los Alamos National Laboratory Space Plasma Physics team of Los Alamos, New Mexico and the Southwest Research Institute of San Antonio, Texas and is now available for future missions.
PEPÉ's scientific goals are to monitor and characterize the spacecraft's motors thrust material, characterize the thrust materials interaction with the solar wind, and to eventually examine the plasma environments associated with comets and asteroids. PEPÉ was launched on October 24, 1998, at 8:08 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) from Cape Canaveral Air Station, FL.
PEPÉ's primary mission is to validate six new plasma sensor technologies needed for future space physics missions. The technologies being tested are: 1) miniaturized linear electric field high resolution time-of-flight mass spectograph; 2) confocal ion/electron electrostatic optics to provide wide energy and angle coverage with high sensitivity; 3) low resource, high performance processing unit matched to process data from time-of-flight sensors; 4) low resource high voltage power supplies operating up to 15kV; 5) low resource high speed digital electronics for nanosecond resolution; and 6) high density packaging using colocated optics and electronics.
PEPÉ will have nearly the capabilities of much larger instruments for roughly 20% of the mass, 25% of the power requirement, and 25% of the cost. Another advantageous feature is that it has no moving parts.