1. Electric power module for a bare electrodynamic tether
- Author
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Moisés Navalón, José A. Carrasco, Francisco García de Quirós, and Higinio Alaves
- Subjects
Physics ,020301 aerospace & aeronautics ,Spacecraft propulsion ,Spacecraft ,business.industry ,Aerospace Engineering ,02 engineering and technology ,Propulsion ,01 natural sciences ,Electric power system ,0203 mechanical engineering ,Physics::Space Physics ,0103 physical sciences ,Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics ,Electric power ,Aerospace engineering ,business ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,Electrical conductor ,Energy harvesting ,Electrodynamic tether - Abstract
Electrodynamic tethers are proposed as propulsion and energy harvesters for space probes orbiting planets with a magnetic field and ionosphere, however there are no descriptions in the technical literature of the design of an electrical power system for such an application at subsystem and circuit detail. This paper presents a proposal for such a power system that extracts energy from the kinetic energy of a spacecraft using a bare electrodynamic tether, i.e. an unsheathed conductive wire or band, in low-Earth orbit. The application of the system is the powering of the spacecraft while in its final de-orbiting maneuvers at end-of-life with no reliance on the main spacecraft bus.
- Published
- 2020