Electrostatic Discharge Ground Test of a Polar Orbit Satellite Solar Panel

Abstract

The Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) that was launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in 2006 carries a large solar array paddle of 22m x 3m in polar orbit. The wake side of the solar paddle can be charged to a negative value exceeding -1000V. Numerical simulations and laboratory experiments are carried out to investigate charging and arcing phenomena on the backside of the solar paddle that has exposed bypass diode boards and Silver-Teflon® thermal film. Possibility of secondary arc and surge voltage between hot and return ends of power circuit has been investigated. We irradiate solar panel coupons with an electron beam to simulate charging situation near the North Pole. Surface flashover is observed once the insulator potential exceeds -7000V.We have also tested charging situation near the South Pole, where Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Plastics (CFRP) surface facing dense ionospheric plasma may arc easily once a satellite potential drops to -80 or -90V. The solar paddle design has been modified to increase the safety margin against arcing and tests have been carried out to identify the strength limit under extremely harsh test environment. I.

Laboratory Experiments for Code Validation of Multiutility Spacecraft Charging Analysis Tool (MUSCAT)

“…One side of the plate is a conductor (molybdenum, 44 × 44 × 0.5 mm), and the other side is an insulator (Boron nitride, 44 × 44 × 1 mm). If we take a plasma condition to be a density of 2 × 10 10 m −3 , an electron temperature of 0.2 eV, an average ion mass number 13, and an orbital velocity of 7.2 km/s [8], the nondimensional parameter ξ is 54. Then, the plate measuring 44 mm 2 corresponds to 7.6 m 2 in PEO, and an array voltage of 500 V in the laboratory corresponds to 39 V. In the experiment discussed following, we placed the conductor side of the electrode facing the wake direction.…”

Comparison of vacuum-immersed helicon thrusters terminated by upstream magnetic and physical walls

“…an increase in the ion energy impinging grounded substrates and walls, and microarcings that show high-current gas breakdowns at the grounded metallic structures [45][46][47][48][49][50]. A similar electrical breakdown phenomenon between a spacecraft and a surrounding space plasma has also caused serious damage to the satellite [51], which would be related with further thruster development. Microarcing events have been experimentally investigated by detecting a temporally negative change in the floating potential of the Langmuir probe, while the floating potential with respect to the grounded chamber potential generally depends on both the local plasma potential and electron temperature.…”

A study of the discharge characteristics and energy balance of a Ne/Xe pulsed planar dielectric barrier: simulation via the one-dimensional particle-in-cell with Monte Carlo collision method

“…Macroscopic PDP discharge cells have been designed in order to more easily study the plasma evolution and its characteristics [86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93]. On the other hand, the electrical properties have also been studied [94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105], and several waveforms have been introduced to optimize the luminous efficiency [70,[106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117].…”