Defeating Plasma - A New Method for Communication with Spacecraft

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Under conditions of entry of spacecraft into the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds, a huge amount of heat is released, which not only imposes high thermal load requirements on the materials of the descent vehicle, but also leads to the formation of plasma around the spacecraft. This blocks (or rather distorts) radio signals - as a result of which the spacecraft is unable to communicate with its ground stations for several minutes.

The task of ensuring stable radio communication with the descent spacecraft is very acute.

The task is no less urgent in the military aspect: RGSN of hypersonic missiles and warheads of ICBMs. For example, for:

3M-22 ("Zircon") / in the photo there is a dem. Mockup of pahMos-II, but it is unlikely that the 3M-22 will be different.

s

Object 4202 (U-71) (This is how comrade Korotchenko represents him).

Or as the Washington Times puts it:

Radar and radio communication through “such” plasma do not work: the total power of losses of electromagnetic energy and radio noise radiation, which almost completely determine the decrease in the energy potential of the radio communication channel as a whole, significantly increase and predetermine the loss of radio communication on the descent trajectory.

The phenomenon of a disconnection during re-entry into the atmosphere was discovered during the "Mercury" project, and then the "Gemini" and "Apollo" programs. It manifests itself at an altitude of about 90 kilometers and up to a mark of 40 kilometers - as a result of the rapid heating of the surface of the capsule falling in the atmosphere, a cloud-film of plasma is formed on its surface, which acts as a kind of electromagnetic screen.

The effect is named (not officially) Radio Silence During Fiery Re-Entry.

At the end of Apollo 13, which depicts a failed lunar mission with three astronauts aboard, viewers are struck by the tension of the spacecraft entering the Earth's atmosphere. It was at this moment that communication with the ship was interrupted, and the flight operators in the American Houston began to smoke nervously during these endlessly stretching agonizing seconds. At this moment, the spacecraft enters the atmosphere at the second cosmic speed, which leads to its being surrounded by hot ionized air, as a result of which communication with the Earth is interrupted.

To make it clearer, I will present the video of the SKA Soyuz TMA-13M entry into the atmosphere:

The most recent example is the loss of communication and telemetry during test launches of the USAF X-51A Scramjet.

Hu from this "plasma" and where does it come from? I offer homemade products:

1. The option offered by my counterpart, dear "zholdosh" (the Kyrgyz language is used - I did not swear, I do not need to ban) by the OPERATOR (spelling and style are preserved):

Do not confuse God's gift - TOKAMAK with scrambled eggs-rocket flying at a speed of over 5 M (1.5 km / s). Plasma formed around it due to the impact dissociation of air molecules …

in the discussion of the article: On the beginning of sea trials of the Zircon hypersonic missiles

This is not entirely true, but acceptable. In fact, everything is more complicated.

2. My option (not the fact that this is absolute knowledge):

The figure shows the resulting values of the equilibrium concentration of electrons (electron / cm ^ 3) depending on the altitude and velocity of the spacecraft entry into the atmosphere;

the aerodynamic boundary layer serves as a source of energy transmitted to the surface of the vehicle during the process of entering the atmosphere (movement in it)

with ablation, a cocktail is generally obtained, because not only air molecules are involved in plasma formation, but also molecules / atoms (ions, electrons) of thermal protection.

Liquid (**), which was obtained during the heating and evaporation of the TZP, i.e. the melt of thermal protection - flows (literally) over the surface of the hypersonic vehicle (warhead).

Yes, yes: at such energies and temperatures, light quanta rip off electron clouds from the "bricks" of matter), see [1]

Examples:

+ electrolyte and migration of charges from the anode to the cathode;

+ a ball that sticks to the wall if you rub it on the scalp (if you are bald, you can rub it on someone else's). And the wall is not electrified, it is neutral. However, it "sticks"!

My son comes running home and says:

I want to show you a trick.

He takes a piece of paper, tears it into small pieces, takes out his pen and rubs it on his hair.

And then what happened, I think you guessed it …

and much more.

Perhaps I will finish and return to our "rams". Which option to choose (operator or mine) - decide for yourself.

Remember only this picture *** (it will come in handy):

How does this harmful plasma interfere with radio waves and radar?

After all, plasma is like an "ionized quasineutral gas"! Gas, but the wrong gas.

- the antenna, simply speaking, is on, and the antenna window (AO) can also burn out or change its dielectric constant.

Several attempts have been made to solve this problem:

1. Soviet approach (implemented).

- Weakly directional microwave radiators of on-board antennas with heated thermal protection and molten material on the thermal protection.

- Onboard antennas with thermal protection, the original designs of which have a reduced sensitivity of their radio transparency to the effects of high-temperature aerodynamic heating.

- Methods of radio illumination of AO for conditions of aerodynamic heating, providing a decrease in losses in the heated AO.

- The use of "long" heat-resistant antennas outside the plasma sheath film.

-Increasing the EFFICIENCY OF THE FUNCTIONING OF THE ON-BOARD RADIO-TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS OF RETURN SPACE VEHICLES

- Due to the imposition of a constant electric field on the radiating surface of the AO, there is a redistribution of the charge in the melt on the surface of the thermal protection, which leads to a decrease in losses in it, and therefore to the bleaching of the AO.

- Due to the supply of refrigerant through the porous heat shield to its surface, while the temperature of the radiating surface of the AO is reduced to a temperature below the melting point.

-And also the passive principle is the construction of thermal protection from a combination of materials with different melting points, which leads to a redistribution of the temperature field over the surface of the thermal protection and provides increased radio transparency on the part of the SKA (warhead).

Original sources, as well as used documents, photos and videos: