Observing Dust Response In An Inductive Plasma Generator*

In December 1995, the Galileo probe entered the Jovian atmosphere. The scientific payload of the probe survived long enough to transmit 58 minutes of data while on its entry trajectory due to its carbon-based ablative heat shield. A Frontiers in Science campaign employing the DIII-D tokamak and the IPG6 device at Baylor’s Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics, and Engineering Research (CASPER) is examining the complex processes guiding heat shield ablation under extreme conditions. In these experiments, millimeter-sized carbon pellets are launched upward into the DIII-D tokamak bulk plasma to study ablation in an environment similar to that experienced by the Galileo probe during Jovian atmospheric entry. As the carbon pellets encountered fast plasma flow, their trajectories were altered in unexpected ways. In an attempt to better understand the underlying physics involved, the impact of plasma flow on the trajectories of spherical pellets is being assessed employing data collected via a complementary set of experiments conducted at Baylor University. This presentation will provide preliminary findings from both experiments and discuss their relevance to heat shield ablation.