Spacecraft plume interactions with the magnetosphere plasma environment in geostationary Earth orbit

作者：Stephani K A^*; Boyd I D

来源：JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS, 2016, 121(2): 1402-1412.

DOI：10.1002/2015JA021158

• DSMC
• PIC
• plumes
• magnetosphere
• spacecraft
• plasma mixture
• interaction

Particle-based kinetic simulations of steady and unsteady hydrazine chemical rocket plumes are presented in a study of plume interactions with the ambient magnetosphere in geostationary Earth orbit. The hydrazine chemical rocket plume expands into a near-vacuum plasma environment, requiring the use of a combined direct simulation Monte Carlo/particle-in-cell methodology for the rarefied plasma conditions. Detailed total and differential cross sections are employed to characterize the charge exchange reactions between the neutral hydrazine plume mixture and the ambient hydrogen ions, and ion production is also modeled for photoionization processes. These ionization processes lead to an increase in local plasma density surrounding the spacecraft owing to a partial ionization of the relatively high-density hydrazine plume. Results from the steady plume simulations indicate that the formation of the hydrazine ion plume are driven by several competing mechanisms, including (1) local depletion and (2) replenishing of ambient H+ ions by charge exchange and thermal motion of 1 keV H+ from the ambient reservoir, respectively, and (3) photoionization processes. The self-consistent electrostatic field forces and the geostationary magnetic field have only a small influence on the dynamics of the ion plume. The unsteady plume simulations show a variation in neutral and ion plume dissipation times consistent with the variation in relative diffusion rates of the chemical species, with full H-2 dissipation (below the ambient number density levels) approximately 33s after a 2s thruster burn.
Key Points

• 出版日期2016-2