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Summary
DescriptionMagnetoplasma sail schematic.jpg
English: The Magnetoplasma sail (MPS) design is as follows. Starting at the center a solenoid coil of radius RH (m) carrying a radio frequency current that generates a helicon wave which injects plasma fed from a source inside of a coil of radius Rc (m) that carries a current of Ic (A), which generates a magnetic field. The plasma is injected at a lower rate than M2P2, which induces an equatorial current ring that increases the magnetic moment. The excited injected plasma generates a miniaturized magnetosphere around the spacecraft, analogous to the heliopause where the Sun injected plasma encounters the interstellar medium, coronal mass ejections or the Earth's magnetotail. The injected plasma created an environment that analysis and simulations showed had a magnetic field that had a falloff rate of 1/r2 as compared with the classical model of a 1/r3 falloff rate, making the much smaller coil significantly more effective. The pressure of the inflated plasma along with the much stronger magnetic field pressure at a larger distance due to the lower fall off rate would stretch the magnetic field and inflate a magnetospheric bubble around the spacecraft.
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Dmcdysan
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