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Particle-in-cell simulations of the Cassini spacecraft's interaction with Saturn's ionosphere during the Grand Finale

Shebanits, Oleg; Zhang, Zeqi; Desai, Ravindra T. +2 more

A surprising and unexpected phenomenon observed during Cassini's Grand Finale was the spacecraft charging to positive potentials in Saturn's ionosphere. Here, the ionospheric plasma was depleted of free electrons with negatively charged ions and dust accumulating up to over 95 per cent of the negative charge density. To further understand the spac…