Spacecraft Contamination from a Chemical Laser Ring-Jet. A Progress Report.

Abstract

The purpose of this report is to present a review of work done at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) on the contaminating backflow from the exhaust plume of a chemical laser mounted on an earth-orbiting spacecraft. Various mechanisms that may give rise to a backflow are outlined; primarily: thermal backscattering; ambient scattering; and viscous effects. Detailed studies have been conducted at NPS on thermal backscattering. They are reviewed in this report, concluding that corrosive fluxes (HF,DF,F) due solely to this effect are negligible. The flux of light species (He,H2), however, is significant. Keywords: Hydrogen fluoride; Deuterium fluoride; Fluorine; Helium; Hydroden; Laser exhaust; Spacecraft contamination; Chemical laser; Exhaust plume.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 1985
Accession Number
ADA162838

Entities

People

  • Joseph Falcovitz

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Backscattering
  • Boltzmann Equation
  • Boundaries
  • Boundary Layer
  • Bow Shock
  • Chemical Lasers
  • Classification
  • Exhaust Plumes
  • Flow
  • Flow Fields
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Gases
  • Laser Beams
  • Lasers
  • Monte Carlo Method
  • Scattering
  • Shock

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.
  • Molecular Photonics/Laser Physics
  • Technical Research and Report Writing.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster