Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz
The regolith is also nonconductive. I would put it's voltage standoff rating in the tens of Kv range or better. Maybe I am missing something here, but I don't see how a drag chain could have any additional effect. When you use a drag chain over concrete, the material is conductive to some extent and likewise for carpet depending on the humidity and moisture content of the materials. The regolith is adverse to moisture absoption so it's electrical properties should not change over a weekend.
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Al -
I had the exact same thoughts 24 hours ago. However, some time with the ESD gun made me revise my thinking.
Think of the regolith as an array of isolated capacitors. As you drive across the surface, you steal charge from these capacitors. Dragging the chain gives it back. If your only static source is the rover wheel / regolith interaction, this should do a good bit to improve things, especially if your chain sweeps the same area your wheels do.
If your charge imbalance comes from your ball manipulation, you won't be able to directly return the charge by this method. However, you will be able to spread the effect over the area you sweep.
Additionally, the capacitors are actually connected with
very high value resistors. These will allow the charge imbalance to slowly spread over the surface.