ABOUT ELECTRODYNAMIC TETHER, ITS STABILIZATION, ITS ADVANTAGES. In an “electrodynamic tether drag” system, such as the Terminator Tether, the tether can be used to reduce the orbit of the spacecraft to which it is attached. The motion of the long conducting wire of a tethered satellite across the geomagnetic field creates an emf of about – V/m along the length of the tether.

An orbit with no inclination would have all the thrust in the in-plane direction. This “electrodynamic drag force” will decrease the orbit of the tether electrodhnamic its host spacecraft. In a non-flowing quasi-neutral plasma with no magnetic field, it can be assumed that a spherical conducting object will collect equally in all directions.

electricity - How does an ElectroDynamic Tether (EDT) clear space debris? - Physics Stack Exchange

Electrodynamic tether circuits cannot be completed by simply using another wire, since another tether will develop a similar voltage. The major advantage of this technique compared to other space propulsion systems is that it doesn’t require any propellant.

In principle, electrodynamic drag tethers can also be used to generate electrical power in space. This video has been tetherr by tethet original poster at Youtube. The coordinates are the first thing that must be identified.

Potential tether applications can be seen below:. This model is compiled from a collaborative effort between magnetic electrodjnamic modelers and the institutes involved in collecting and disseminating magnetic field data from satellites and from observatories and surveys around the world.

It is believed that the failure was caused by an electric arc generated by the conductive tether’s movement through the Earth’s magnetic field.

Only when we add water will we get a stream flowing down the mountain i. The rate of rotation of the Earth, or of its core, is not relevant.

Electrodynamic Tether / ACT / ESA

This figure is symmetrically set up so either end can be elecrrodynamic as the anode. Since it takes a much greater potential difference to collect an equivalent amount of ion electrodtnamic for a given areathe total current in the tether is reduced by a smaller amount. Secondary factors, depending on the application, include cost, strength, and melting point. Primary factors usually include high electrical conductivityand low density.

This diagram shows that, from point A of the tether down to point Bthere is a positive eletcrodynamic bias, which increases the collected current.

By using excess power generated by the ISS’s solar panels to drive current through a conducting tether, a tether reboost system could counteract the drag forces or even raise the station’s orbit. The charging battery load is not treated as a “base resistance” though, as the charging circuit can be turned off at any time.

The first layer is a positive layer at the edge of the high potential electrodtnamic the contactor plasma cloud. A properly deployed EDT, combined with another power source, could actually push itself forward on the Earth’s magnetic field, speeding the IST up without the use of any propellant.

If it didn’t pick up and emit electrons, the charge buildup would prevent further charge motion.

This classical 1-D space charge limit SCL is derived for charged particles of zero initial energy, and is termed the Child-Langmuir Law.

However, it is more difficult for the opposite negative end of the tether to eject free electrons or to collect positive ions from the plasma. An EDT can generate electric current flow towards the planet; this can provide enough electricity to tetber experiments on board a satellite; this also causes the tether to experience a force from the planet’s magnetic field that is opposite the tether’s direction of motion.

electroxynamic

Electrodynamic tether

If additional power is driven along the tether in the opposite direction to that in which it normally wants to flow the tether in theory could push negating propulsion against the Earth’s gravity to raise the shuttles orbit. Forgive what may be a poor choice of tags elctrodynamic without already knowing the answer to my question, it’s hard to choose appropriately. Note that the velocity used in this equation is the orbital velocity of the tether.

Electroydnamic attached tether, with a diameter of 0. In a loose sense, the process can be likened to a conventional windmill- the drag force of eoectrodynamic resistive medium air or, in this case, the magnetosphere is used to convert the kinetic energy of relative motion wind, or the satellite’s momentum into electricity.

System level configurations will be presented for each device, as well as the relative costs, benefits, and validation.

In an “electrodynamic tether drag” system, such as the Terminator Tether, the tether can be used to reduce the orbit of the spacecraft to which it is attached. Steady current for onboard electrosynamic results. Thrustless turning using the EDT system is possible to allow for course correction and rendezvous in interstellar space. This gas is just used for charge exchange and not propulsion.

Electrodynamic Tethers: Getting into the Swing

NASA eoectrodynamic plans to launch several large rockets every year to carry fuel up to the station so that it can reboost its orbit. If we deploy such a tether from a satellite in a low Earth orbit, it will tend to orientate itself vertically due to the gravity gradient explained earlier see Momentum Exchange.

For further information on an electrodynamic tether system customized for your spacecraft application, please contact TUI at information tethers. The TSS hardware has several major elements: