Injection and propagation of a nonrelativistic electron beam and spacecraft charging

Abstract

Two-dimensional numerical simulations have been carried out in order to study the injection and propagation of a nonrelativistic electron beam from a spacecraft into a fully ionized plasma in a magnetic field. Contrary to the earlier results in one-dimension, a high density electron beam whose density is comparable to the ambient density can propagate into a plasma. A strong radial electric field resulting from the net charges in the beam causes the beam electrons to spread radially reducing the beam density. When the injection current exceeds the return current, significant charging of the spacecraft is observed along with the reflection of the injected electrons back to the spacecraft. Recent data on the electron beam injection from the Spacelab 1 (SEPAC) are discussed.