Waves Radiated by an Electrodynamic Tether Over the Jovian Polar Caps

An electrodynamic bare tether could be an alternative source of power for jovian missions such as Juno, which is NASA´s latest proposed mission to Jupiter; Juno, which will be a polar orbiter, is planned to move away from previous use of radioisotope thermoelectric generators to use of solar arrays, required to be very large due to the great distance of Jupiter from the Sun. The radiation impedance for a tether under polar cap conditions, as different from conditions for a Low Earth Orbit [1-2], and conditions for the "tether-like" Io interaction, is determined. For tether parameters appropriate for power generation in a Juno-type mission, total power radiated is calculated. Both the frequence and angular spectra of the radiation is also discussed. References [1] J. R. Sanmartin and M. Martinez-Sanchez, J. Geophysical Research 100, 1677 (1995). [2] J. R. Sanmartin and R. D. Estes, J. Geophysical Research 102, 14625 (1997).