TECHNICAL MECHANICS
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UDC 533.9

Technical mechanics, 2018, 2, 60 - 70

ARTIFICIAL MINI-MAGNETOSPHERE AS A MEANS OF CONTROLLING SPACECRAFT MOTION IN THE EARTH IONOSPHERE

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/itm2018.02.060

Kuchugurnyi Yu. P., Kulagin S. N., Nosikov S. V., Tsokur A. G.

Kuchugurnyi Yu. P.
Institute of Technical Mechanics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the State Space Agency of Ukraine
Ukraine

Kulagin S. N.
Institute of Technical Mechanics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the State Space Agency of Ukraine
Ukraine

Nosikov S. V.
Institute of Technical Mechanics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the State Space Agency of Ukraine
Ukraine

Tsokur A. G.
Institute of Technical Mechanics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the State Space Agency of Ukraine
Ukraine

      Based on the results of a series of experimental studies of the interaction of spacecraft models with a hyper-sonic rarefied plasma flow, this paper demonstrates the possibility of controlling spacecraft motion in the iono-sphere with the use of a device of the “magnetic sail” type and proposes an idea of an experiment onboard a Cu-beSat microsatellite in a near-Earth orbit. If a spacecraft is equipped with a source of a strong magnetic field, then in a hypersonic rarefied plasma flow a nonuniform plasma structure called an artificial mini-magnetosphere, which is similar to a planetary magnetosphere, will form in the vicinity of the spacecraft. In this case, part of the plasma flow momentum will be transferred to the magnetic field source, thus resulting in additional forces acting on the spacecraft. This principle forms the basis for the “magnetic sail” – a jetless magnetohydrodynamic propulsion unit that uses the kinetic energy of the solar wind. Experimental studies of the interaction of spacecraft mod-els with a plasma beam were conducted on a plasmaelectrodynamic setup. The drag and lift acting on the models were determined as a function of the flow parameters and the magnetic field. It was shown that an artificial mini-magnetosphere may be an effective means of controlling spacecraft motion in the Earth ionosphere. The experi-ment to be conducted in near-Earth space envisages equipping a microsatellite with permanent magnets encased in a controllable enclosure that shields the magnetic field and determining the satellite orbit variations after re-moving the shield as a function of the magnetic field parameters. The experiment might be a first verification of the concept of the “magnetic sail” as a spacecraft propulsion unit. Controlling the motion of a “magnetized” body by using the long-term interaction of the body’s magnetic field with the ionospheric plasma may be the key com-ponent of a radically new technology for space debris removal from the ionosphere.

spacecraft, CubeSat, YuzhSat, ionosphere, mini-magnetosphere, plasma, magnetic sail, solar wind, physical simulation, plasmaelectrodynamic setup

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/itm2018.02.060

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