Current drainage to a high voltage probe in a dilute plasma

Abstract

The current drainage from a plasma through approximately 0.05 cm diameter holes in Kapton H polymide film, P E P type C., and quartz microsheet placed on a probe at voltages up to 2000 volts d. c . have been determined both theoretically and experimentally. A Laplace field was used to numerically predict an upper limit for the drainage current. The measured current was less than the theoretical current for the F E P and quartz, and the two were approximately in agreement for Kapton He The measured currents were on the order of 5 microamperes with the theoretical currents on the order of 10 microamperes.

NASA GRC and MSFC Space Plasma Arc Testing Procedures

“…Space plasma testing has been done at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) for over thirty years (see [1]), and at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) for almost as long. During this period, proper test conditions for an accurate and meaningful space simulation have been worked out, comparisons with an actual space performance in spaceflight tests and with real operational satellites have been made, and NASA has achieved our own internal standards for test protocols.…”