Conditions (Kulonovskiy Kristall) Study of the Dynamics of a System of Charged Particles in a Magnetic Field in Microgravity
FIELD IN MICROGRAVITY CONDITIONS (KULONOVSKIY KRISTALL)
Research Area: Educational Demonstrations
Expedition(s): 23-ongoing
Principal Investigator(s): ● Vladimir E. Fortov, PhD, Institute of Thermal Physics of
Extreme Conditions, Moscow, Russia
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Kulonovskiy Kristall studies the formation of a Coulomb ensemble of charged graphite particles
located in a replaceable container when exposed to the dynamic impacts of a magnetic and
electric field or mechanical agitation aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
EARTH BENEFITS
The educational and demonstrational components of the experiment consist of attracting
university-level and graduate students at higher educational institutions to the scientific
processing of the information obtained. This investigation aims to attract creative youth to
participating in space experiments.
SPACE BENEFITS
The experiment’s results may be applied
when developing future sources of energy
for spacecraft using photovoltaic cells. In
these cells, fine-dispersed powder of solid
radioisotopes forms a homogenous
floating suspension in a gaseous medium.
The gaseous medium, when exposed to
ionizing charged particles, generates
ultraviolet radiation, which in turn is
converted into electrical current by high-
efficiency, wide-bandgap semiconductors.
RESULTS
Kulonovskiy Kristall created stable,
spatially ordered structures consisting of charged, strongly interacting graphite particles. The
particles’ charge was evaluated, and the characteristic oscillation time of the dust cloud was
determined.
Research was performed for the first time on strongly interacting Coulomb systems in an
antiprobkotron magnetic field (B ~ 103 G, |∇ B| ~ 400 G/cm), consisting of a large number
(~104) of charged diamagnetic graphite particles with dimensions of 100, 200, 300, and 400 μm
in microgravity conditions. The period of induced oscillations of the particle cloud was
determined to be T = 10 s and the oscillation damping decrement was determined to be δ =
0.07 s−^1.
Positions of the graphite particle cloud during one period of
induced decaying oscillations. Particle diameter = 400 μm.
Roscosmos image.