Modeling of parasitic current collection by solar arrays in low-earth orbit
- Maxwell Federal Division, Inc., A Maxwell Technologies Company, 8888 Balboa Avenue, San Diego, California 92123 (United States)
- Phillips Laboratory, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts 01731 (United States)
In this paper we describe the development of a model of the electron current collected by solar arrays from the ionospheric plasma. This model will assist spacecraft designers in minimizing the impact of plasma interactions on spacecraft operations as they move to higher-voltage solar arrays. The model was developed by first examining in detail the physical processes of importance and then finding an analytic fit to the results over the parameter range of interest. The analytic model is validated by comparison with flight data from the Photovoltaic Array for Space Power Plus diagnostics (PASP Plus) flight experiment [D. A. Guidice, 34{ital th} {ital Aerospace} {ital Sciences} {ital Meeting} {ital and} {ital Exhibit}, Reno, NV, 1996, AIAA 96-0926 (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Washington, DC, 1996)]. {copyright} {ital 1996 American Institute of Physics.}
- OSTI ID:
- 388242
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 3, Issue 11; Other Information: PBD: Nov 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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