This plasma is formed, sustained, and expanded with an electrodeless Rotating Magnetic Field (RMF), which has been shown in previous experiments to generate the required, fully ionized, high temperature magnetized plasma.
It is my understanding that the magnetoshell idea is more for aerocapture, which is currently a very dubious endeavour due to the unpredictability of upper atmosphere conditions. The ability to directly modulate drag would be very useful here, and it might also allow greater flexibility in vehicle design.
Quote from: 93143 on 09/22/2012 09:14 pmIt is my understanding that the magnetoshell idea is more for aerocapture, which is currently a very dubious endeavour due to the unpredictability of upper atmosphere conditions. The ability to directly modulate drag would be very useful here, and it might also allow greater flexibility in vehicle design.Aerocapture around /Mars/ (and other non-Earth worlds) is what is dubious because of the lack of extensive knowledge about the upper atmosphere there. It's more predictable for aerocapture at Earth.
Tapping into the energy generated by the plasma during reentry could, in theory, help power such a system.
http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/06/magnetoshell-concept-proven-for-braking.html#more
Quote from: xanmarus on 06/12/2013 09:15 amhttp://nextbigfuture.com/2013/06/magnetoshell-concept-proven-for-braking.html#moreIf I understand the article correctly, this would act something like a Plasma Parachute in the upper atmosphere.
But if the Payload is actually in front of the Magnetized Plasma effect, wouldn't it too need some form of TPS?
Quote from: JasonAW3 on 05/23/2014 07:22 pmQuote from: xanmarus on 06/12/2013 09:15 amhttp://nextbigfuture.com/2013/06/magnetoshell-concept-proven-for-braking.html#moreIf I understand the article correctly, this would act something like a Plasma Parachute in the upper atmosphere.Yeah, that's the analogy we use a lot. It works reasonably well.QuoteBut if the Payload is actually in front of the Magnetized Plasma effect, wouldn't it too need some form of TPS?It depends, but not exactly. While it's true that having the spacecraft inside the magnetoshell provides an extra level of protection versus atmospheric heating, just increasing the effective drag area means you can get the same amount of braking higher in the atmosphere, where the lower density means much less heat flux. Instead of a ballistic coefficient of 250-500kg/m^2 that you see for capsules or the shuttle, or 25-50kg/m^2 that you get for a HIAD system, you can potentially get ballistic coefficients less than 1-5kg/m^2 with a properly designed Magnetoshell with the right bells and whistles...Potentially much less than 1kg/m^2...Take their Mars aerocapture design. Compared to a 5m radius heatshield that you could theoretically get on an SLS-type vehicle, you could get a 20m radius magnetoshell using their design, and possibly as much as 40-50m radius magnetoshell using some reasonable tricks we've thought of since they did their paper. You're talking about an areal density somewhere between 16-100x lower than you could get with a traditional heat shield (and probably still 4-25x more than you could get with a HIAD. That means that for the same desired drag, you can do a pass where the density is 16-100x lower than you could with the traditional heatshield or 4-25x lower density than you could with a HIAD. Heat flux goes linearly with the density, so depending on the details, and the knobs twisted, even if your MAC coil is trailing on a tether, you still might not actually need TPS.Oh, and that 20-50m radius magnetoshell can be made with a payload that fits into a 5m EELV fairing...~Jon