Diamagnetic effect produced by the Fluxus‐1 and ‐2 artificial plasma jet

The purpose of the Fluxus-1 and -2 active experiments is to study plasma jets injected parallel to the magnetic field and to study the interaction of these jets with the magnetic field. The experiments were conducted using a shaped-charge device, known as an explosive type generator (ETG), that produced an artificial aluminum plasma jet. In Fluxus-1 and -2 the jet was injected nearly parallel to the geomagnetic field at an altitude of 140 km toward an instrumented diagnostic payload located about 100 m away from the ETG. A ∼50% reduction in the magnetic field was observed as the plasma jet passed by the diagnostic payload. Comparisons of 3-dimensional simulation results with the observed magnetic field perturbations suggest that the Fluxus-1 plasma jet was ∼30° from the magnetic field direction while the Fluxus-2 plasma jet was directed nearly parallel to the magnetic field.