nology of microwave energy transmission and to study the possible interaction of a microwave energy beam with the ionosphere and neutral atmosphere. The experiment configuration is shown in Fig. 1. The equipments for this study include two magnetrons with microwave power of 830 W for each and a mother/ daughter payload to study spatial properties of the microwave and resultant effects on the ionospheric plasma. The present stage of the experiment is limited to in-space power transmission but the investigators plan to utilize a satellite to test power transmission from orbit to space. SEP AC Experiment (3) The SEPAC (Space Experiment with Particle Accelerator) is an ISAS/NASA joint experiment to fly with the first Spacelab mission in 1983. Three main study areas of this experiment are |1| vehicle charge neutralization, |2| beam plasma physics, and |3] beam atmosphere interaction (3). In this case the beam is not a microwave beam but an electron or plasma beam generated by the onboard accelerators to simulate cosmic particles impinging on the upper atmosphere. A schematic drawing of artificial aurora excitation is shown in Fig. 2. This large scale experiment in space is expected to give an insight into future study on the environmental problems. The MPD arcjet device to be used for this experiment will be applicable for propulsion system to boost up SPS to a higher orbit. The effect of the exhausted plasma has been discussed from this point of view (4).
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