ELECTRODYNAMIC ASPECTS OF THE 1ST TETHERED SATELLITE MISSION

The tethered satellite system (TSS) project was developed, starting fr om 1984, as a unique system to make active experiments in space plasma s. This paper aims at providing a thorough description of the basic el ectrodynamic aspects of a TSS orbiting in the ionosphere. As will be s een, a wide variety of plasma physics phenomena are associated with th e interaction of a conducting tether with the ionospheric plasma and, as a consequence, numerous basic science objectives can be addressed w ith a TSS system. Besides reviewing the various electrodynamic phenome na and our present knowledge on them, we provide also a description of the scientific payload and the nominal science objectives of the firs t tethered satellite project (TSS-1). A brief account, as well as a fi rst evaluation, are also given of the mission itself, which was flown with the shuttle Atlantis launched on July 31, 1992.