Avoiding radio communication blackouts during atmospheric entry is crucial to a space mission and can be life-saving. A novel ray-tracing algorithm, called Blackout Ray Tracer (BORAT), based on a Snell’s law solver, is introduced to analyze the signal behavior during reentry using geometrical optics for nonmagnetized and magnetized plasma. The ray-tracing analysis is performed on Knapp’s case fluid simulations provided by the University of Stuttgart. The effect of an applied magnetic field on ray tracing is discussed and visualized using radiation patterns. The results suggest that a sufficiently strong magnetic field is promising to mitigate radio communication blackouts.


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    Title :

    Radio Communication Blackout Mitigation: Analyzing Magnetic Field Effects via Ray-Tracing Analysis


    Contributors:
    Laur, J. S. (author) / Giangaspero, V. F. (author) / Sharma, V. (author) / Lani, A. (author) / Donaldson, N. (author) / Kim, M. K. (author) / Giacomelli, J. (author) / Herdrich, G. (author) / Hein, A. (author) / Thoemel, J. (author)

    Published in:

    AIAA Journal ; 62 , 6 ; 2024-2035


    Publication date :

    2024-04-22


    Size :

    12 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English