The plasma wake of the Space Shuttle Orbiter

Author

Wright ; Stone ; Reasoner ; Samir ; Hwang, K.S.

Author_Institution

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, USA

fYear

1989

fDate

0-0 1989

Firstpage

73

Abstract

Summary Form only given, as follows. During the Spacelab 2 mission of the Space Shuttle, a small subsatellite, the Plasma Diagnostic Package (PDP), was released for six hours of free flight. Measurements of the ion behavior in the mid- and far wake of the Orbiter were made. The data were obtained by a differential ion flux probe and by a retarding potential analyzer, which were mounted on the PDP. The disturbance to the ionosphere produced by the Orbiter motion was found to extend downstream beyond 250 m. Evidence for the influence of the magnetic field on the wake morphology was noted. The wake data have been compared and contrasted with laboratory simulations of the interaction of a body in a flowing plasma.<>

Keywords

ionosphere; plasma flow; plasma probes; plasma simulation; space vehicles; wakes; Orbiter motion; Plasma Diagnostic Package; Space Shuttle Orbiter; Spacelab 2 mission; differential ion flux probe; far wake; flowing plasma; free flight; ion behavior; ionosphere disturbance; laboratory simulations; magnetic field; mid-wake; plasma wake; retarding potential analyzer; subsatellite; wake morphology; Ionosphere; Plasma measurements; Plasma properties; Plasmas; Simulation; Space vehicles;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Plasma Science, 1989. IEEE Conference Record - Abstracts., 1989 IEEE International Conference on

Conference_Location

Buffalo, NY, USA

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PLASMA.1989.166055

Filename

166055