Figure Captions Figure 1: A schematic representation of the cargo orbit transfer vehicle (COTV) argon-ion emission scenario at L=4. The coordinate system used in this paper is also defined. The ion beam trailing the COTV is roughly 1000 km long and ~ 10 km in width. Figure 2: The spiral orbit trajectory of the COTV from LEO (inner most circle) to GEO (outer most circle) is shown in proportion. Figure 3: Argon propellant mass necessary for the transport of different payload masses between 350 km altitude and synchronous altitude. The orbital inclination is assumed to change from 0° to 28.5° during transport. The projected exhaust speed 130 km/sec, corresponding to 3.5 keV kinetic energy is not shown but it should fall just below the curve for 100 km/sec. The axis showing the number of argon ions is approximate. Figure 4: Time fraction of LEO-GEO transfer orbit at various geocentric distances. Figure 5: Number of Ar+ ions released at various geocentric distances for payload mass of ~ 107 kg, compared to the number of ambient electrons in a dipole field shell two argon gyroradii thick. Figure 6: POTV effluent deposition (Courtesy Dr. C. Park, NASA/Ames). Velocities are given in km/sec and [[spi:math]]M, the mass of fuel used, are given in metric tons. Vc is the escape velocity and a negative sign in the velocity signifies direction opposite to the earth’s rotation. 86
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