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Completed TRL 5 (started at 5, targeting 5)
This IRAD develops an Advanced Langmuir Probe (ALP) for flight on low perigee satellites carried out within high atomic oxygen environments such as Goddard’s proposed Atmosphere-Space Transition Region Explorer (ASTRE). This task consists of advancing Goddard’s existing Langmuir probe instrumentation to enable accurate swept I-V curves with minimum hysteresis in a highly atomic oxygen environment by optimizing the surface properties of the probe and by developing high voltage circuitry to enable electron “bombardment” to clean the probe surface in flight.
This work will advance our ability to take Langmuir Probe measurements in upper atmospheres dominated by atomic oxygen, including Earth and Venus.
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