Measured force on elongated bodies in a simulated low-Earth orbit environment

An overview of the development of a magnetically filtered atomic oxygen plasma source and the application of the source to study low-Earth orbit drag on elongated bodies is presented. Plasma diagnostics show that the magnetic filter plasma source produces atomic oxygen ions (O+) with streaming energies equivalent to the relative orbital environment of approximately 5eV and can supply the appropriate density for LEO simulation. Previous research has demonstrated that momentum transfer between ions and metal surfaces is equivalent to the momentum transfer expected for neutral molecules with similar energy, due to charge exchange occurring prior to momentum transfer. Total drag measurements of aluminum cuboid geometries of varying length to diameter ratios immersed in the extracted plasma plume are presented as a function of streaming ion energy.