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| Paper: |
PIC Simulation of Electric Sail with
Explicit Trapped
Electron Modeling |
| Volume: |
459, 6th International Conference of Numerical Modeling of Space Plasma Flows (ASTRONUM 2011) |
| Page: |
271 |
| Authors: |
Janhunen, P. |
| Abstract: |
The solar wind electric sail (electric sail, E-sail) is a new and
potentially revolutionarily efficient method of interplanetary
propulsion. The E-sail taps the momentum flux of the solar wind with
the help of long, thin, highly positively charged and centrifugally
stretched tethers. According to estimations, a full-scale E-sail could weigh 100-200 kg
and produce 1 N thrust at 1 AU. The thrust would scale as 1/r where r
is the distance from the sun and the thrust direction could be
vectored by ∼ 30° away from radial by inclining the
sail. Here we present new particle in cell (PIC) simulation results of the
E-sail thrust. The challenge in modeling the E-sail from first
principles is the possible existence of trapped electrons. We sketch a
way by which the PIC simulations might be possible to extrapolate to
the natural limit in the future. |
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