Novel active sensing methods have been recently proposed to measure the electrostatic potential of noncooperative objects in geosynchronous equatorial orbit and deep space. Such approaches make use of electron beams to excite the emission of secondary electrons and X-rays and infer properties of the emitting surface. However, the detectability of secondary electrons is severely complicated in the presence of complex charged bodies, making computationally efficient simulation frameworks necessary for in situ potential estimation. The purpose of this paper is twofold: firstly, to introduce and test a quasi-analytical, uncoupled, and computationally efficient electron beam expansion and deflection model for active charging applications; and secondly, to characterize the uncertainty in the beam–target intersection properties, which condition the measurement of secondary electrons. The results show that a combination of secondary electrons and X-ray methods is highly desirable to yield a robust and accurate measure of the potential of a target spacecraft.


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    Title :

    Simulation and Uncertainty Quantification of Electron Beams in Active Spacecraft Charging Scenarios


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2022-05-01




    Type of media :

    Conference paper , Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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