Development of a Deployable Langmuir Probe Spacecraft Potential and Space Ion Number Density Sensor
Date of Award
12-2024
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
First Advisor
Kristina Lemmer, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Nicholas Taylor, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Pablo Gomez, Ph.D.
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Abstract Only
Restricted to Campus until
12-1-2026
Abstract
A Langmuir probe (LP) and control board were developed for the Performance of Electrospray Propulsion for Gathering Single Polarity Data (PEP-GS) mission. The LP was tested in the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) low Earth orbit (LEO) chamber. A satellite model was biased to different potentials to simulate the spacecraft charging in LEO. I-V traces of the LP were obtained using a sourcemeter to determine the electron and ion number densities, electron temperature, floating potential of the LP, and plasma potential with varying satellite potential. Data were collected from the control board via the sourcemeter to determine the satellite potential and ion number density with fixed biased measurements. The ion and electron number densities increased with spacecraft potential. Recorded electron and ion number densities were not equal because of probe signal saturation. The calculated electron temperature decreased with increasing satellite potential. The floating potential of the probe increased linearly with the satellite potential. The calculated plasma potential decreased with increased satellite potential. The probe signal saturated quickly in the electron retarding region. The control board was damaged and the switching circuit did not function as expected, resulting in the collected data for the second experiment to be the probe saturation current.
Recommended Citation
Schulz, Brendan, "Development of a Deployable Langmuir Probe Spacecraft Potential and Space Ion Number Density Sensor" (2024). Masters Theses. 5444.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/5444
