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A study of the electrical charging of the Rosetta orbiter: 1. Numerical model

Berthelier, Jean-Jacques; Roussel, Jean-FrançOis

Charging of spacecraft in terrestrial or planetary ionospheres and magnetospheres is a well-known effect which may have detrimental consequences for in-situ plasma measurements. The case of the Rosetta mission is of particular importance because the expected temperatures of cometary ions and electrons in the inner coma of comet Wirtanen are very l…

A study of the electrical charging of the Rosetta orbiter: 2. Experimental tests in a laboratory plasma

Berthelier, Jean-Jacques; Roussel, Jean-FrançOis

Following the numerical simulation presented in the companion paper, we have performed experimental tests in a plasma simulation chamber to check the results of the numerical model and validate its capability to properly predict the electrical equilibrium of the Rosetta orbiter. Since low temperature cometary plasmas cannot be directly reproduced …