Title: SCATHA satellite instrumentation report
Description: The Air Force Geophysics Laboratory will furnish four experiments for the synchronous research satellite SCATHA (Spacecraft Charging at High Altitudes) scheduled for launch in 1978. These instruments include: (1) Boom and surface mounted gridded probes to measure the thermal (0 to 100 eV) plasma environment and the structure of the satellite photo-sheath; (2) A combination of electrostatic analyzers and solid state spectrometers to measure the plasma particle fluxes (50 eV to 10 MeV) responsible for the spacecraft charging phenomena and transient charging effects; (3) An electron beam system able to eject electrons with from 50 eV to 3 keV in energy to attempt to correct for charging caused by environmental electrons; (4) An ion beam system able to eject ionized xenon with 1 keV and 2.5 keV energies, to attempt to duplicate charging caused by environmental electrons. These instruments will be part of the total SCATHA instrumentation which consists of engineering and environmental definition experiments. Acting in concert, these instruments will test charge neutralizing procedures and provide data to specify design criteria for future synchronous satellites.
Subjects: Space vehicles, Electrostatic charging, Optical equipment, Geostationary satellites, Instruments, Space plasmas, Measurement, Spectrometer, SCATHA SATELLITE