Critical ionization velocity interaction in the CRIT I rocket experiment

• In the rocket experiment CRIT I, launched from Wallops Island on 13 May 1986, two identical Barium shaped charges were fired from distances of 1.3 km and 3.6 km towards the main experiment payload, which was separated from a sub-payload by a couple of km along the magnetic field. The relevance of earlier proposed mechanisms for electron heating in ionospheric critical velocity experiments is investigated in the light of the CRIT I results. It is concluded that both the "homogeneous" and the "ionizing front" models can be applied, in different parts of the stream. It is also possible that a third, entirely different, mechanism may contribute to the electron heating. This mechanism involves direct energization of electrons in the magnetic-field-aligned component of the DC electric field. © 1989.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Fusion, plasma och rymdfysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Fusion, Plasma and Space Physics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Ionosphere; Plasmas

CRIT I Rocket Experiment; Critical Ionization Velocity Interaction; Electron Heating; Magnetic-Field-Aligned Component

Atmospheric Ionization

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