Floating bare tether as upper atmosphere probe

Abstract

Use of a conductive bare tape electrically floating in low Earth orbit as an effective electron beam source to produce artificial auroral effects, free of problems that mar standard beams, is considered. Ambient ions impacting the tape with keV energies over most of its length liberate secondary electrons that race down the magnetic field, excite neutrals in the E layer, and result in auroral emissions. The tether would operate with both a power supply and a plasma contactor off at nighttime; power and contactor would be on at daytime for reboost. Tomographic analysis of auroral emissions from the footprint of the beam, as observed from the spacecraft, can provide density profiles of dominant neutral species in the E layer. A characteristic tether system, at altitude ∼300 km and moderate orbital inclination, would involve an aluminum tape with a length of ∼20 km, a width of ∼15 mm, and a thickness of ∼0.2 mm for a full‐system mass around 1200 kg, with two thirds going into the power subsystem.