The pressure dependence of the arc plasma propagation in simulated LEO environment

摘要

ESD ground tests with large-scale solar panels were conducted in simulated low-earth-orbit plasma environment. In those experiments, the propagation length and velocity were measured in an argon plasma atmosphere, of which the plasma density was approximately 10¹⁰ m⁻³. Additionally, the pressures were set at 4.0 × 10⁻², 1.9 × 10⁻² and 2.0 × 10⁻³ Pa. The results indicated that the plasma propagation length was greater than 3.75 m at all pressure condition in this study. The plasma propagation velocity decreased with the decrease of the backpressure. The velocity was approximately 10⁴ m /s at 2.0 × 10⁻³ Pa.