North Star Plasma-Jet Space Experiment

Autor: R. E. Erlandson, C. I. Meng, P. K. Swaminathan, C. K. Kumar, V. K. Dogra, B. J. Stoyanov, B. G. Gavrilov, Y. Kiselev, J. I. Zetzer, H. C. Stenbaek-Nielsen, K. A. Lynch, R. F. Pfaff, P. A. Delamere, S. Bounds, N. A. Gatsonis
Rok vydání: 2004
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets. 41:483-489
ISSN: 1533-6794
0022-4650
DOI: 10.2514/1.11943
Popis: The objective of the Active Plasma Experiment North Star mission was to study the interaction of artificially produced aluminum ion plasma jets with the space environment. Two separate plasma jets were injected almost perpendicular to the local magnetic field during the North Star experiment. The jets were created using an explosivetype generator designed to produce a high-speed (7‐42-km/s) aluminum ion plasma jet with plasma densities exceeding 10 9 cm −3 at a distance 170 m from the plasma-jet source. The first plasma-jet injection occurred at an altitude of 360 km and was preceded by the release of an artificial air cloud. The second injection occurred at an altitude of 280 km and did not include the air cloud. Interactions of the plasma jet with the local space environment and artificial air cloud were monitored using instrumentation on three diagnostic payloads, ground-based optical sensors, and space-based optical sensors. An overview is provided of the experiment, along with a summary of the principal results from the mission.
Databáze: OpenAIRE