Spacecraft charging in sunlight: new evidence of monopole-dipole potential distribution

Irvinder Kaur

Spacecraft charging in sunlight: new evidence of monopole-dipole potential distribution

ORAL

Abstract

We present the results of a statistical study on high-level charging of spacecraft in sunlight at geosynchronous altitudes. Below the critical temperature of the ambient plasma, no spacecraft charging occurs in eclipse. A spacecraft has a shadowed side in sunlight. The critical temperature remains the same and the ratio of the surface potential in sunlight to that in eclipse is about 1/3, agreeing with the monopole-dipole model.

Oct. 17, 2009, 9:00 AM – Oct. 17, 2009, 9:15 AM

Authors

Irvinder Kaur

University of Colorado, University of Southern Virginia, University of New Hampshire, University of New England, Southern Virginia University, Bridgewater State College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SciPrint.org