Current collection along a realistic “bare wire” space tether is considered. A number of factors are taken into account, including the resistance of the wire and shielding resulting from the current-induced magnetic field produced by current flow in the tether. The plasma density, tether length and radius, the geomagnetic field strength, and angle to the orbital velocity vector were all used as parameters in the study. It is shown that magnetic shielding for certain tether system configurations, when combined with particular values of the governing parameters, significantly reduces the collected current.

Topics
Magnetic fields, Space tether, Plasma properties and parameters
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© 2002 American Institute of Physics.
2002
American Institute of Physics
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