although still larger than analytical predictions. This enables us to estimate the ratio of the ion drag force to neutral drag force on an array as a function of altitude and voltage. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to acknowledge Dr William Lawson for providing the basis for the PIC code used in this work. The advice and help of Dr Kuninaka is also greatly appreciated. This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Sponsored Research under grant AFOSR-87-0340. REFERENCES [1] Stevens, N.J. (1980) Review of interactions of large space structures with the environment, in: Space Systems and Their Interaction with Earth’s Space Environment (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics). [2] Kuninaka, H. & Kuriki, K. (1987) Numerical analysis of the interaction of a high-voltage solar array with ionospheric plasma. Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 24; 512-517. [3] Kuninaka H. & Kuriki, K. (1986) Interference of high voltage solar array with ionospheric plasma, in: Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Symposium on Space Technology and Science. [4] Crystal, T.L. & Kuhn, S. (1985) Particle simulations of the low-a pierce diode, Physics of Fluids, 28, 2116-2124. [5] Boring, J.W. & Humphris, R.R. (1973) Drag coefficient for spheres in free molecular flow in O at satellite velocities. NASA CR-2233.
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