Experiments Plan on the HTV

Tsujita, Daisuke; Kasai, Takeshi; Uematsu, Hirohiko; Harada, Masayuki; Fukatsu, Tsutomu; Sasaki, Hiroshi

doi:10.2322/tastj.12.tg_1

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has developed a module named the Large Plasma (LP) current probe and POtential Monitor (LP‐POM) to measure the potential against space of the sixth H‐II Transfer Vehicle (HTV‐6), as reported by Tsujita et al (). The LP‐POM has two kinds of potential sensors and a single plasma current sensor.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observation of Electron Density Depletion Due to Maneuver Operation of H‐II Transfer Vehicle

et al. 2019

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The plasma sensor on the sixth H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) measured the depletion of electron density during some maneuver operations for attitude or altitude control. In this paper, we first discuss the on-orbit observation of electron density depletion during the entire lifetime of the HTV. On-orbit data showed that both altitude and attitude control maneuvers caused the depletion effect. The geocentric coordinates and universal time were also shown to confirm the depletion effect around the HTV by using other techniques, such as total electron content based on the Global Navigation Satellite System network. In the latter part of the paper, we discuss the cause of the depletion effect based on past literature. To analyze the interaction between thruster plume gas and ionospheric plasma, computational fluid dynamics simulations were conducted to analyze the number density distribution of molecules around the HTV. It was found that the combination of charge exchange and dissociative recombination possibly caused the depletion of electron density during altitude control maneuvers, due to neutral particles being ejected from the thrusters and a time delay in the reaction response. During attitude control maneuvers, the electrons of ionospheric plasma were pushed away from the plasma sensor by dense neutral clouds. Plain Language SummaryThe electron current sensor on the H-II Transfer Vehicle that transports supplies to the International Space Station observed the depletion of electron density during maneuver operations in orbit. The present study showed the measured data and discussed the causes of electron density depletion. This discussion was supported by computational fluid dynamics and simple numerical analyses. The present study found that the distance between the thruster and monitor, and the time to chemical reaction are important parameters to clarify the cause of electron density depletion.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observation of Electron Density Depletion Due to Maneuver Operation of H‐II Transfer Vehicle

et al. 2019

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“…The H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) is Japan's unmanned cargo transfer spacecraft that delivers cargo/supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), and HTV1 through HTV5 completed its mission successfully. Based on the situation of mass and power resource margin from past flights, an on-orbit platform function 1) is developed to provide the possibility of demonstrations to users. As one of the on-orbit demonstrations on HTV4 and subsequent flights, the ElectroDynamic Tether (EDT) technique is planned to be demonstrated in HTV6, and the mission is called Kounotori Integrated Tether Experiments (KITE).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Operational Feasibility Evaluation for On-orbit EDT Experiments on HTV

Tsujita

Kasai

Uchiyama

et al. 2016

AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY JAPAN

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The H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) is Japan's unmanned cargo transfer spacecraft that delivers cargo/supplies. It has on-orbit platform function to provide a demonstration to users from HTV4. ElectroDynamic Tether (EDT) technique, which is a promising candidate as a debris removal device, is planned to be demonstrated using HTV6. The demonstration concept is that the end-mass with 700 meter tether is deployed and currents on the tether are driven by emitting electrons from HTV after departure from ISS. This mission is called Kounotori Integrated Tether Experiments (KITE), and there are some demands for unique operations of the HTV in order to perform KITE. The objective of the paper is to evaluate KITE feasibility from the standpoint of HTV operation.

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