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Re: orbital tether electric motor



If I understand this correctly, the payload falls, and as the wire falls
through the earth's magnetic field, it experiences a drag. The drag on the
falling object is equivalent to an upward thrust.

The return current experiences a force in the opposite direction, as Bill
noted. By conservation of momentum, this will give a downward force on the
atmosphere.

"phys-l@lists.nau.edu: Forum for Physics Educators" wrote:

Very cool, check it out:

ProSEDS tether electrodynamics
http://astp.msfc.nasa.gov/proseds/

Doesn't this violate Conservation of Momentum, etc? For there to be a
current, there has to be a large ion flow from the tips of the tether.
Maybe we should view this device as an ion engine, not as an electric
motor which pushes on the Earth's magnet dipole.

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