Interaction of Charged Spacecraft with Electric Propulsion Plume: On Orbit Data and Ground Test Results

Author

Likar, Justin J. ; Bogorad, Alexander L. ; Malko, Thomas R. ; Goodzeit, Neil E. ; Galofaro, Joel T. ; Mandell, Myron J.

Author_Institution

Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Syst., Newtown, PA

Volume

53

Issue

6

fYear

2006

Firstpage

3602

Lastpage

3606

Abstract

On-orbit observations and ground tests demonstrate interaction between charged spacecraft and electrothermal thruster-generated plasma. On-orbit measurements and test results are presented for plasma diagnostics and solar array performance during long-term exposure of flight solar panel. The long-term performance of a flight 70 V 2mtimes4 m GEO solar array exposed to a 2 kW arcjet plasma environment was studied

Keywords

aerospace propulsion; aerospace testing; electric propulsion; plasma diagnostics; solar cell arrays; space vehicle power plants; spacecraft charging; surface charging; 2 kW; 70 V; GEO solar array; arcjet plasma; electric propulsion plume; electrothermal thruster-generated plasma; ground test; on-orbit observations; photovoltaic space power systems; plasma diagnostics; spacecraft charging; Extraterrestrial measurements; Photovoltaic systems; Plasma density; Plasma diagnostics; Plasma measurements; Propulsion; Satellites; Space vehicles; Surface discharges; Testing; Electrostatic discharges; photovoltaic space power systems; space vehicle propulsion; surface charging;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TNS.2006.885107

Filename

4033643