Positive Ion Ejection System (PIES).
Abstract
The Contractor has designed, fabricated, tested, and delivered both a breadboard- and a flight-model Positive Ion Ejection System (PIES) to the Air Force Geophysics. The flight-model system will be employed to eject positive charge from a rocket (BERT I) in order to simulate and investigate spacecraft charging. The PIES models each consist of an argon-ion source; an argon expellant tank; power, command, and telemetry electronics; and suitable packaging. The ion source emits an unneutralized argon-ion beam at selected voltages in the energy range from 0.5 to 4.5 keV, with selected ion-beam currents in the range of 0.02 to 20 mA. The flight-model PIES exhibits environmental-tolerance attributes suitable for rocket launch. Design considerations, final design configuration, and test data are presented. Keywords: Ion sources, Spacecraft charging, Rocket charging, Ion Beams, BERT I rockets.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA166560
Entities
People
- J. Hyman
- R. Robson
- W. Williamson
Organizations
- HRL Laboratories