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An Analytic Model for Estimating the First Contact Resistance Needed to Avoid Damaging ESD During Spacecraft Docking in GEONASA’s Gateway program is to involve spacecraft (s/c) docking in the outer radiation belt in order to transfer Gateway elements between s/c for transport to lunar orbit. The charging of these s/c to different potentials prior to docking raises the possibility of a damaging electrostatic discharge (ESD) at the time of first contact between the s/c. A proposed mitigation strategy is for first contact to occur prior to docking through a resistor with resistance R that would lower the potential difference at an optimal rate to a sufficiently low value to prevent a damaging ESD. The coupling of s/c by a resistor can be modeled by SPIS (Spacecraft Plasma Interaction System), but for realistic two s/c models SPIS can take hours to simulate the evolution of the s/c surface charges and potentials to an equilibrium state. Our objective is to develop a simpler model of s/c resistive coupling that runs orders of magnitude faster while providing useful first design estimates of the time variation of the s/c potentials, current through the resistor, and how these vary with R and s/c configuration. This configuration is defined by the relative separation and orientation of the s/c, and their solar illumination. The configuration and geometry of the s/c determine their capacitive coupling. The s/c capacitances are computed using Nascap-2K. This abstract and the associated poster describe the first version of such a model, and initial tests.
Document ID
20190027371
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Goodman, Michael L.
(Jacobs Engineering Group Huntsville, AL, United States)
Paez, Aurelio
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Willis, Emily M.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
DeStefano, Anthony M.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Suggs, Robert M.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Date Acquired
July 17, 2019
Publication Date
May 13, 2019
Subject Category
Electronics And Electrical Engineering
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Report/Patent Number
M19-7319
Meeting Information
Meeting: Applied Space Environments Conference
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: May 13, 2019
End Date: May 17, 2019
Sponsors: Universities Space Research Association (USRA)
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80MSFC18C0011
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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