Monopole-Quadrupole Model of Spacecraft Charging in Sunlight
Abstract
Geophysics research spacecraft are often covered partially with thin layers of dielectrics such as kapton or thermal blanket materials. Analytical modeling of the charging of a dielectric spacecraft in sunlight needs to go beyond the monopole potential and include a dipole term. If the capacitances of the dielectric 1ayers are sufficiently large and the spacecraft spin rate is sufficiently fast the potentials may be determined on the basis of spin averaged spectra of electron and ion fluxes. In such a condition the potential distribution resembles that of monopole-quadrupole system. We formulate the monopole-quadrupole case and compare it to the monopole-dipole model.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA431710
Entities
People
- M. Tautz
- S. T. Lai
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory