Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

IEEE Transaction on Plasma Science

Volume

47

Issue

8

Publication Date

8-2019

First Page

3867

Last Page

3871

Abstract

Wireless intraspacecraft communication technology is being developed for signal transfer on space missions to save weight and simplify the design. One consideration for this new technology is its interaction with space environmentinduced electrostatic discharges (ESDs). The short time scales of spacecraft ESD events result in broad frequency band signals that can interact with high-frequency wireless antennas. These interactions present a source of signal noise. However, they also present a possibility of in-flight wireless ESD monitoring. We present laboratory measurements of arcing on common spacecraft insulators using commercially available single-band 2.4-GHz and dual-band 2.4-/5.8-GHz Wi-Fi antennas. These wireless detections are shown to coincide with direct simultaneous measurements of discharge event currents. The amplitudes of the wireless signals are shown to provide a measure of the relative magnitude of the arcs, although the narrow frequency ranges of Wi-Fi antennas make absolute measures of the discharge intensity impractical. The wireless signals are shown to provide very accurate nanosecond timing of ESD events, which presents the potential of identifying arc location on a spacecraft with the use of time-of-flight detection from multiple antennas.

Download

Share

COinS