WELCOME

CONTENTS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 INTRODUCTION EXISTING ROCKET PROPULSION MECHANISM HISTORY OF SPACE TETHERS PRICIPLE WORKING ED TETHERS APPLICATION ADVANTAGES WHY TETHERS WIN CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE

 Electrodynamic (ED) tether is a long conducting wire extended from

spacecraft. It has a strong potential for providing propellant less propulsion to spacecraft in low earth orbit. An electrodynamic Tether uses the same principle as electric motor in toys, appliances and computer disk drives. It works as a thruster, because a magnetic field exerts a force on a current carrying wire Working with Earth s magnetic field would benefit a number of spacecraft including the International Space Station Tether propulsion requires no fuel. Is completely reusable and environmentally clean and provides all these features at low cost

EXISTING PROPULSION MECHANISM

The existing rocket propulsion mechanism derives

energy from rocket fuels. The rocket fuel is burnt inside a chamber and gas produced due to combustion is expelled out through a nozzle, which produces the upward thrust for rockets or spacecrafts. The currently available rocket fuels are in solid liquid and as from Hydrogen peroxide, Cold gas , keresene but each produces many disadvantages. Nuclear energy is also uses but it produces radiations.

An electrodynamic tether with its unique features put

forward a better option for propulsion of rockets and spacecrafts.

HISTORY OF SPACE TETHERS

o since in the 20th century, it wasn t until 1947 that

Giuseppe Colombo came up with the idea of using a long tether to support a satellite System (TSS) to investigate plasma physics and the generation of electricity in the upper atmosphere. o The best-known applications are the tethers that connect spacewalking astronauts to their spacecraft.

4. PRINCIPLE
y The basic principle of an electrodynamic tether is Lorentz force. It is the force that a magnetic field exerts on a current carrying wire in a direction perpendicular to both the direction of current flow and the magnetic field vector. y The Dutch physicist Hendrik Androon Lorentz showed that a moving electric charge experiences a force in a magnetic field. (if the charge is at rest, there will not be any force on it due to magnetic field ) Hence it is clear that the force experienced by a current conductor in a magnetic field is due to the drifting of electrons in it.

Lorentz Force Low

y The Lorentz Force Low can be used to describe the

y y y y y

effect of a charged particle moving in a constant magnetic field. The simplest form of this low given by the scalar equation F = QvB F is the force acting on the particle (vector) V is the velocity of the particle (vector) Q is charge of particle (scalar) B is magnetic field (vector)

Fleming s Left Hand Rules

y For a charged particle moving (velocity v) in a

magnetic field (field B) the direction of the resultant force (force F) can be found by y MIDDLE FINGER of left hand in direction of CURRENT y INDEX FINGER of left hand in direction of FIELD. B y THUMB now points in direction of the FORCE OR MOTION. F

For a charged particle moving (velocity v) in a magnetic field (field B) the direction of the resultant force (force F) can be found by MIDDLE FINGER of left hand in direction of CURRENT INDEX FINGER of left hand in direction of FIELD. B THUMB now points in direction of the FORCE OR MOTION. F The force will always be perpendicular to the plane of vector v and B no matter what the angle between v and B is. Just pretend the following picture is.

An electrodynamic tether is essentially a long conducting wire extended from a space craft. The electrodynamic tether is made from aluminium alloy and typically between 5 and 20 kilometers long. It extends downwards from an orbiting platform. Aluminium alloy is used since it is strong, lightweight, inexpensive and easily machined. The gravity gradient field (also known as tidal force ) will tend to orient the tether in a vertical position. If the tether is orbiting around the Earth, it will be crossing the earth s magnetic field lines orbital velocity (7-8 km/s). The motion of the conductor across the magnetic field induces a voltage along the length of the tether. This voltage can up to several hundred volts per kilometer.

In the above figure the sphere represents the Earth and the unbroken lines represents Earth s magnetic field. The broken line is LEO. As shown in the figure there is a drag force experienced in the wire in a direction perpendicular to the current and magnetic field vector.

y In an electrodynamic tether drag system such as the terminator Tether, the tether can be used to reduce the orbit of the spacecraft to which it is attached. If the system has a means for collecting electrons from the ionospheric plasma at one end of the tether and expelling them back in to the plasma at the other end of the tether, the voltage can drive a current along the tether. This current bill, in turn, interact with the Earth s magnetic field to cause a Lorentz JXB force, which will oppose the motion of the tether and whatever it is attached to. This electrodynamics drag force will decrease the orbit of the tether and its host spacecraft. Essentially, the tether converts the orbital energy of the host spacecraft in to electrical power, which is dissipated as ohmic heating in the tether.

. This current bill, in turn, interact with the Earth s magnetic field to cause a Lorentz JXB force, which will oppose the motion of the tether and whatever it is attached to. This electrodynamics drag force will decrease the orbit of the tether and its host spacecraft. Essentially, the tether converts the orbital energy of the host spacecraft in to electrical power, which is dissipated as ohmic heating in the tether.

propellant less propulsion for LEO spacecraft: ED tether system can provide propellant less propulsion for spacecraft operating in low Earth orbit. Because the tether system does not consume propellant

TUI is currently developing a propulsion system called the "Microsatellite Propellantless Electrodynamic Tether (PET ) Propulsion System" that will provide propulsive capabilities to microsatellites and other small spacecraft without consuming propellant.

y Characteristics:

The mass, size, and power requirements of the PET Propulsion System depends upon the size of the satellite and the propulsive mission. TUI has developed a prototpye of a PET sized for a 125 kg microsatellite which could raise the orbit of this satellite from a 350 km drop-off orbit to a 700 km operational orbit within 50 days.

Tethers Unlimited Inc. is currently developing a system called the Terminator Tether that will provide a lowcost, lightweight, and reliable method of removing objects from low-Earth-orbit (LEO) to mitigate the growth of orbital debris.

ADVANTAGES
y The operational advantages of electrodynamic tethers

of moderate length are becoming evident from studies of collision avoidance. Although long tethers (of order of 10 kilometers) provide high efficiency and good adaptability to varying plasma conditions, boosting tethers of moderate length (~1 kilometer) and suitable design might still operate at acceptable efficiencies and adequate adaptability to a changing environment.

y ED tethers used for propulsion in low-Earth orbit and

beyond could significantly reduce the weight of upper stages used to boost spacecraft to higher orbit. Much of the weight of any launch vehicle is the propellant and It is expensive to lift heavy propellants off the ground. y Since ED tethers require no propellant, they could substantially reduce the weight of the spacecraft and provide a cost effective method of reboosting spacecraft, such as the International Space Station (ISS)

. WHY TETHERS WIN?

y Normal Launch from ground y Circular velocity is about 8km/s at Low Earth Orbit

(LEO). You loose around 2km/s from drag and climb. You get around 0.5km from the spin of the Earth. So 2 rocket has to provide a Delta-V about 9.5km/s. You need to circularize your orbit which means firing the engine again about 45 minutes after launch. This restart of the engine only needs to provide about 0.1 to 1.15 km/s depending upon the altitude of the orbit.

y Air Launch from 20 km to tether at 100 km

altitude We need to be doing about 5 km/s when we get to the end of the tether. We loose about 0.5km/s from climbing from 20 km to 100 km and air drag. We get about 0.5km/s from spin of Earth. There is no need to circularize the orbit as the tether has a big ballast mass and is in orbit. Net is rocket needs to provide a delta-V of about 5 km/s.

y What happened? y The orbital velocity at 100 km high is 7.5 km/s but the centre of

mass of the tether is at 600km high (so 500km from tip to centre of mass) the orbital velocity is 7.56km/s. We have saved 0.29km/s already. y Our final design uses a tether tip speed of 2.5km/s relative to the centre of mass. So relative to the centre of Earth it is moving about 5.06km/s(7.56-2.5). Between the two we are 2.79(2.5+0.29) km/s below orbital speed at 100 km y We get about 0.5 km/s from the rotational speed of the earth and so only need 4.s km/s after altitude and drag loss. Starting from 20 km high we don t loose so much to drag. Our air launch will gives us a running start, perhaps 0.2 km/s. Reduced air pressure enables a more efficient rocket engine.

y What is the result? y We need around the half the Delta-V. We needed a

two-stage before but we only need one stage rocket now. It is right to think of it as only being the second stage. The first stage could have 5-10 times as large as the second stage, so we have saved a lot.

Satellite Tugboat Another idea is for the ED tether to be attached to an unmanned space tugboat that would ferry satellites to higher orbits. After being launched in to low Earth orbit, the so called Orbital Transfer Vehicle would grapple the satellite and maneuver it to a new altitude or inclination. The tug could then lower its own orbit to rendezvous with another payload and repeat and repeat the process.

Exploring the outer planets Perhaps the most exotic use if ED tether technology would be to propel and power spacecraft exploring the outer planets. Existing vessels have relied on solar cells, but at distances far from the Sun, the power available is typically favourable to ED tethers: The planet has a strong magnetic field moving much faster than the spacecraft the tether would essentially be stealing energy from the planet s magnetic field.

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