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Asymmetric electrostatic radiation shielding for spacecraft
| Content Provider | NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
|---|---|
| Author | Lane, John E. Metzger, Philip T. Youngquist, Robert C. |
| Copyright Year | 2005 |
| Description | A paper describes the types, sources, and adverse effects of energetic-particle radiation in interplanetary space, and explores a concept of using asymmetric electrostatic shielding to reduce the amount of such radiation impinging on spacecraft. Typically, such shielding would include a system of multiple inflatable, electrically conductive spheres deployed in clusters in the vicinity of a spacecraft on lightweight structures that would maintain the spheres in a predetermined multipole geometry. High-voltage generators would maintain the spheres at potential differences chosen in conjunction with the multipole geometry so that the resulting multipole field would gradually divert approaching energetic atomic nuclei from a central region occupied by the spacecraft. The spheres nearest the center would be the most positive, so as to repel the positively charged impinging nuclei from the center. At the same time, the monopole potential of the overall spacecraft-and-shielding system would be made negative so as to repel thermal electrons. The paper presents results of computational simulations of energetic-particle trajectories and shield efficiency for a trial system of 21 spheres arranged in three clusters in an overall linear quadrupole configuration. Further development would be necessary to make this shielding concept practical. |
| File Size | 188022 |
| Page Count | 1 |
| File Format | |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_20110015112 |
| Archival Resource Key | ark:/13960/t4gn35j1n |
| Language | English |
| Publisher Date | 2005-09-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance Electrostatic Shielding Spacecraft Shielding Asymmetry Simulation Multipoles Radiation Shielding Mathematical Models Spheres High Voltages Particle Trajectories Ntrs Nasa Technical Reports Server (ntrs) Nasa Technical Reports Server Aerodynamics Aircraft Aerospace Engineering Aerospace Aeronautic Space Science |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Technical Report |
