Surface Charging Controlling of the Chinese Space Station with Hollow Cathode Plasma Contactor

Abstract

A highly charged manned spacecraft threatens the life of an astronaut and extravehicular activity, which can be effectively reduced by controlling the spacecraft surface charging. In this article, the controlling of surface charging on Chinese Space Station (CSS) is investigated, and a method to reduce the negative potential to the CSS is the emission electron with a hollow cathode plasma contactor. The analysis is obtained that the high voltage (HV) solar array of the CSS collecting electron current can reach 4.5 A, which can be eliminated by emitting an adequate electron current on the CSS. The theoretical analysis and experimental results are addressed, when the minimum xenon flow rate of the hollow cathode is 4.0 sccm, the emission electron current can neutralize the collected electron current, which ensures that the potential of the CSS can be controlled in a range of less than 21 V, satisfied with safety voltage. The results can provide a significant reference value to define a flow rate to the potential controlling programme for CSS.