Physics of interplanetary plasma and laboratory experiments

The Use of Interplanetary Medium as Fuel for Plasma Thrusters

“…This spatial distribution was observed by Helios 1 and 2 space probes at distances from 0.3 to 1 A.U. from the Sun [20]. It was found that the dust concentration decreases in ecliptic as a function of distance from the Sun as r −1.3 .…”

“…It is acceptable to neglect the interstellar component, taking into account the electromagnetic radiation of the Sun only, even though the interplanetary medium is seen as the entire set of matter and fields which fill interplanetary space inside the Solar system. As the main part of interplanetary matter, we will consider only the solar wind, high-energy charged particles, interplanetary dust, and neutral gas [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25].…”

“…The solar wind is a flow of hydrogen plasma with a negligible fraction of helium ions (several percent of the total number of particles), which is generated by transfer processes in the solar corona and inside the interior of the Sun itself. Direct observations [17][18][19][20][21][22] have shown that non-stationary, spherically asymmetric flows are formed, which differ greatly from each other and change over time depending on the state of the solar corona. Plasma outflow occurs with the formation of non-stationary shock waves in interplanetary space near the Sun, characterized by sharp jumps in speed, a density, and temperature when faster flows catch up with slower ones.…”

“…One part of the large particles that have a spherical shape will settle on the surface of the Sun. Another part moves along spiral trajectories, that gets away from the Sun due to the Poynting-Robertson effect [20,21,26].…”

“…Neutral gas in the Solar system was discovered by observing resonantly scattered solar radiation [20,26]. According to these observations, the density of hydrogen atoms is 0.06 cm -3 and the density of helium atoms is 0.012 cm -3 , it means the density of neutral gas is much smaller than the density of the solar wind and dust, and it can be neglected.…”