Droplet Charging Effects in the Space Environment

Abstract

Several applications exist for transiting liquid droplets through the near-Earth space environment. Numerical results are presented for the charging of liquid droplets of trimethyl pentaphenyl siloxane (DC705) in three different plasma environments: ionosphere, auroral, and geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). Nominal and high geomagnetic activity cases are investigated. In general, high levels of droplet charging (>100V) exist only in GEO during periods of high geomagnetic or solar activity. An experiment was conducted to assess the charging of silcon-oil droplets due to photoemission. The photoemission yield in the 120-200nm wavelength range was found to be approximately 0.06.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 16, 2010
Accession Number
ADA524451

Entities

People

  • Andrew D. Ketsdever
  • Thomas B. Joslyn

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Charged Particles
  • Earth Orbits
  • Electrons
  • Environment
  • Ionosphere
  • Materials
  • Meteorological Satellites
  • Photoelectric Emission
  • Radiation
  • Simulations
  • Solar Activity
  • Space Environments
  • Space Propulsion
  • Spacecraft
  • Spacecraft Charging

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science
  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerosol Science/Aerosol Physics
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.
  • Thin Film Deposition Science.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster
  • Space - Orbital Debris