POLAR 5—an electron accelerator experiment within an aurora. 3. Evidence for significant spacecraft charging by an electron accelerator at ionospheric altitudes |
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| Authors: | Tore A Jacobsen Nelson C Maynard |
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| Institution: | Norwegian Defence Research Establishment N-2007 Kjeller, Norway;Laboratory for Planetary Atmospheres, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | The POLAR 5 rocket experiment carried an electron accelerator on a “daughter” payload which injected a 0,1 A beam of 10 keV electrons in a pulsed mode every 410ms. With spin and precession, injections were made over a wide range of pitch angles. Measurements from a double probe electric field instrument and from particle detectors on the “mother” payload and from a crude R.P.A. on the “daughter” payload are interpreted to indicate that the “daughter” charges to a potential between several hundred volts and 1 kV. The neutralizing return current to the “daughter” is shown to be assymetrically distributed with the majority being collected from the direction of the beam. The additional electrons necessary to neutralize the daughter are thought to be produced and heated through beam-plasma interactions postulated by Maehlum et al. (1980b) and Grandal et al. (1980) to explain the particle and optical measurements. Significant electric fields emanating from the charged “daughter” and the beam are seen at distances exceeding 100 m at the “mother” payload. |
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