The Decrease in Effective Photocurrents Due to Saddle Points in Electrostatic Potentials near Differentially Charged Spacecraft

The reported investigation had the objective to illustrate the presence of important multidimensional effects in spacecraft charging. Two-dimensional codes have been under development by Parker (1976). A description is presented of a calculation which was performed using the three-dimensional NASA C...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on nuclear science 1978-12, Vol.25 (6), p.1313-1317
Main Authors: Mandell, Myron J., Katz, Ira, Schnuelle, Gary W., Steen, Paul G., Roche, James C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Conductivity
Electrons
Electrostatics
Material properties
Multidimensional systems
Photoconductivity
Plasma temperature
Satellites
Space vehicles
Surface charging
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Summary:The reported investigation had the objective to illustrate the presence of important multidimensional effects in spacecraft charging. Two-dimensional codes have been under development by Parker (1976). A description is presented of a calculation which was performed using the three-dimensional NASA Charging Analyzer Program (NASCAP). NASCAP was run to calculate the electrostatic potentials on the surface of, and in the space surrounding, a sunlit Teflon-coated sphere. Currents to the sunlit surfaces were determined on the basis of an approximate photosheath model for strong differential charging.
ISSN:0018-9499
1558-1578
DOI:10.1109/TNS.1978.4329530