Rocket model satellite positive ion beam system

The Rocket Model (RM) Satellite Positive Ion Beam System (SPIBS) instrument was built to be one experiment in an Astrobee F Rocket scientific payload. The purpose of the rocket experiment was to obtain electrostatic charging data in the altitude range of 100 to 300 km. SPIBS provides a controllable means of ejecting a positive xenon ion beam or a neutralized ion beam at ion energies of 1 or 2 keV. Rocket flight test results showed that surface potentials of several hundred volts were achieved by ion ejection and that charging varied as a function of altitude. Although the RM-SPIBS was built for its own distinct purpose, an equally important function of the rocket flight was the evaluation of the SPIBS design. The SPIBS primary development effort was in fact carried out under the main program. The RM-SPIBS instrument was built to a quality level similar to the SPIBS engineering model (EM) instrument.