Battel Engineering, Inc.
10020 North 58th Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85253
office: (480) 991-9747
fax: (480) 991-9748
email:
bateng@earthlink.net
123. Mars Atmosphere Breakdown Simulator
One of the more challenging problems associated with the Mars surface
environment is the fact that its atmosphere is in the range of 10 Torr
which is in the Paschen breakdown regime. Therefore, high voltage
systems must not only be electrostatically shielded from the atmosphere
but they must also be tested for their response and reliability in cases
where the output can be exposed to such pressures. This picture shows a
simple test setup using a commercially available gas tube for verifying
the reliability of the HVM output when exposed to Mars atmosphere. The
gas tube breakdown at 300 volts results in a relaxation oscillator
similar to what would occur at Mars.
Image © Steve Battel, Battel Engineering, Inc. All rights reserved.