Observations of ionosphere heating in the TSS-1 subsatellite presheath

Details Observations of ionosphere heating in the TSS-1 subsatellite presheath Observations of ionosphere heating in the TSS-1 subsatellite presheath

May 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994jgr....99.8961k&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol 99, no. A5, p. 8961-8969

Physics

Plasma Physics

7

Electrodynamics, Electron Plasma, Electrostatic Probes, Ionospheric Heating, Plasma Heating, Plasma Sheaths, Tethered Satellites, Data Reduction, Geomagnetism, Plasma Temperature

Scientific paper

The first flight of the Tethered Satellite System (TSS-1) was to investigate the mechanical and electrical dynamics of a conducting satellite deployed from the orbiter via a tether whose core was a conducting wire. In the TSS-1 system the satellite deployed from the orbiter radially away from the Earth. The relative motion between the tether and Earth's magnetic field generated an electromotive force (EMF) that is the product of orbiter velocity, Earth's magnetic field, and the length of the deployed tether. This EMF drove a current through the tether. Electrons were collected on the satellite's electrically conductive skin and traveled through the tether to the orbiter, where they either went to orbiter structural ground or were emitted into the ionosphere via active eletron emission. During TSS-1 this electron emission was accomplished mainly by the 100 mA, 1-KeV fast pulsed electron gun (FPEG) of the shuttle electrodynamic tether system (SETS). The FPEG electron emission was much higher than either ambient ion collection at the orbiter end or electron collection at the satellite. Potentials of the orbiter with respect to the ambient plasma were obtained from measurements from the Shuttle Potential and Return Electron Experiment (SPREE), the SETS tether current voltage monitor (Thompson et al., 1993), and the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana deployer and satellite core equipment. Despite the limited tether deployment length of 268 m the TSS-1 system proved capable, during certain events, of generating satellite potentials sufficient to illuminate a previously unexplored aspect of plasma physics: that of an ion repelling, electron attracting, moving probe in a magnetoplasma. During such events the satellite boom-mounted Langmuir probe flown as a part of the Research on Electrodynamic Tethers experiment measured an increase in the electron plasma temperature in the quasi-neutral ionospheric region beyond the satellite sheath. This observed heating of the presheath electrons was distinctly different from the acceleration of the elctrons in the sheath, which was also observed when the sheath expanded such that the probe was completely in the sheath. We show that the observed elevated electron temperatures are consistent with the formation of a Bohm stable electron collecting sheath.

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