Interaction of a hollow-cathode source with an ionospheric plasma

Abstract Hollow cathodes to be used as plasma contractors on Rocket-or-Shuttle-based experiments are under development at our Institute jointly with NASA-JSC. Here we report on first results achieved using a large plasma chamber which permits the simulation of an ionospheric plasma with magnetic field compensation and variation. The interaction between a hollow cathode (H.C.) plasma plume ( n e ⋍ 10 14 m 3 ) with an ionospheric plasma beam ( n e ⋍ 10 12 m 3 ) was investigated by means of Langmuir probes at different distances from the H.C. source.