Active spacecraft potential control: An ion emitter experiment. [Cluster mission]

Download
Author
Riedler, W.
Goldstein, R.
Hamelin, M.
Maehlum, B.N.
Troim, J.
Olsen, R.C.
Pedersen, A.
Grard, R.J.L.
Schmidt, R.
Rudenauer, F.
Date
1988-10Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The cluster spacecraft are instrumented with ion emitters for charge neutralization. The emitters produce indium ions at 6 keV. The ion current is adjusted in a feedback loop with instruments measuring the spacecraft potential. The system is based on the evaporation of indium in the apex field of a needle. The design of the active spacecraft potential control instruments, and the ion emitters is presented.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Spacecraft Design Program at the Naval Postgraduate School
Agrawal, B.N. (2005);This paper presents a review of the spacecraft design program at the Naval Postgraduate School. This program is part of the space systems engineering curriculum. In this curriculum, the students take at least one course ... -
Comparison of alkali ion emitters.
Gant, Dean Alan (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 1991-12);Lithium, Potassium, and Cesium ion sources have been studied using devices based on thermal emission from a Beta- Eucryptite structure as possible ion sources for use in satellite charge control. The experiments evaluated ... -
Attitude Dynamics/Control of Dual-Body Spacecraft with Variable-Speed Control Moment Gyros
Romano, M.; Agrawal, B. (2004);The dynamics equations of a spacecraft consisting of two bodies mutually rotating around a common gimbal axis are derived by the use of the Newton–Euler approach. One of the bodies contains a cluster of single-gimbal var ...