OBSERVATIONS OF REFLECTED IONS AND PLASMA TURBULENCE FOR SATELLITE POTENTIALS GREATER-THAN THE ION RAM ENERGY

During the TSS-IR mission, the behavior of the ions flowing from the f orward hemisphere of the Tethered Satellite System (TSS) satellite was examined as the potential on the satellite was changed from below to above 5 V. The ram energy of the ambient atomic oxygen ions is similar to 5 eV. For satellite potentials < 5 V, no ions were observed on the ram side of the satellite. When the satellite potential was raised > 5 V, ions were observed to he flowing from the forward region of the s atellite. In the region sampled, the ion flux was a few percent of the ambient with energies of similar to 5 eV. The temperature of the outf lowing ions was observed to be enhanced, relative to the ambient ionos phere. The net current to the probe package became much more noisy for satellite potentials > 5 V as compared with satellite potentials < 5 V, indicating a more disturbed plasma environment.