Publication Date:
2019-07-12
Description:
The statistical occurrence of spacecraft charging at near-geosynchronous orbit in daylight is studied with reference to results of an experiment conducted on the SCATHA satellite. In particular, it is found that: (1) the external current that creates high negative satellite frame potentials is the high-energy electron current from the electron population with energies greater than about 30 keV; (2) the electron current to the satellite from particles with energies less than about 30 keV neither drives the frame potential nor provides the current to balance the high-energy populations; and (3) the ion current provided from the entire range of measured ions is also not the primary source of the balancing current.
Keywords:
SPACECRAFT DESIGN, TESTING AND PERFORMANCE
Type:
AD-A165444
,
AFGL-TR-86-0057
,
Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227); 91; 1474-149
Format:
text
