ATS-5 and ATS-6 potentials during eclipse

Abstract

The ATS 5 and ATS 6 data for spacecraft charging during eclipse conditions is analyzed. The ATS 5 and ATS 6 charged to voltages greater than 100 volts for about 55 percent of the eclipse periods examined. The mean spacecraft potential during eclipse was 2 keV for ATS 5, and the highest potential measured was 10 kilovolts. For ATS 6, the mean potential during eclipse was 4 keV, the highest potential measured 20 keV. The average measured spacecraft potentials for both ATS 5 and 6 depend approximately linearly upon Kp. This relationship is due mainly to the dependence of electron current density on Kp near midnight. Spacecraft potentials at geosynchronous orbit may, to a rough approximation, thus be inferred from ground-based measurements of Kp, the planetary 3-hour index.