Pre-Flight POLAR Code Predictions for the CHAWS Space Flight Experiment

Abstract

The POLAR code is a 3D plasma simulation which has been used to design and predict the behavior of the Charge Hazards and Wake Studies (CHAWS) space flight experiment. The most recent results from the POLAR code are presented here prior to the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery. CHAWS will measure the current-voltage (IV) characteristic of a high voltage probe mounted on the wake side of the Wake Shield Facility (WSF) free flyer. POLAR results indicate that ion currents to the negatively biased probe will be near 'zero' only for potentials less than 30 to 300 Volts in magnitude. As the potential increases to the CHAWS limit of -5 kilo-Volts, the ion current will quickly rise to levels comparable to that which the probe would collect if orbiting unshielded.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 31, 1994
Accession Number
ADA280951

Entities

People

  • D. L. Cooke
  • Graeme Shaw
  • John Talbot

Organizations

  • Phillips Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Charged Particles
  • Detectors
  • Electric Fields
  • Electrons
  • High Voltage
  • Ions
  • Low Earth Orbits
  • Mach Number
  • Measurement
  • Orbits
  • Simulations
  • Space Shuttles
  • Spacecraft
  • Spacecraft Charging
  • Trajectories
  • Voltage

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering.
  • Optical Fiber Sensing and Electromagnetic Propagation.
  • Plasma Physics / Magnetohydrodynamics

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster
  • Space - Satellites