Rocket-borne Langmuir Probe response to an applied periodic potential
Abstract
A Langmuir Probe (LP), payload designed and developed at Instituto de Pesuisas Espaciais (INPE/MCT) was flown on board a SONDA III rocket at 2259 hrs. (LST) on October 31, 1986 from the Centro de Lancamento da Barreira do Inferno in Natal, RN, Brazil, under a collaborative program between INPE and Instituto de Atividades Espaciais (IAE/CTA). The rocket reached an apogee of about 444 km and the LP payload functioned satisfactorily during the ascent as well as descent of the rocket. A sweep voltage varying between -1V and +4V in a period of about 2.6 seconds was applied to the LP sensor. As the applied voltage increased from -1V to +4V, the LP sensor current first showed an increase, reached a saturation level, and then, though the sensor potential increased towards a steady value, the current showed a systematic decrease. This sensor current characteristic also showed a clear dependence on altitude and hence on the ambient plasma parameters. Possible physical mechanisms responsible for these LP response characteristics are analyzed and discussed here.
- Publication:
-
NASA STI/Recon Technical Report N
- Pub Date:
- October 1988
- Bibcode:
- 1988STIN...8926205M
- Keywords:
-
- Altitude;
- Electrostatic Probes;
- Plasma Density;
- Plasma Sheaths;
- Plasma Temperature;
- Rocket-Borne Instruments;
- Contamination;
- Electric Potential;
- Electron Distribution;
- Rocket Vehicles;
- Instrumentation and Photography