Bodies in flowing plasmas: Laboratory studies

A brief review of early laboratory investigations of bodies in flowing, rarefied plasmas is given together with a discussion of more recent parametric studies carried out at NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), which include the effects of the ion acoustic Mach number and the normalized test body potential. Good agreement is found between the experimental results and theoretical calculations which omit ion thermal motion. The relation between laboratory investigations and the results of satellite-borne measurements is addressed. This relationship has led to an appreciation for the benefits of applying the methods and techniques of laboratory plasma physics to investigations in space, where several limitations inherent to the laboratory can be circumvented. These types of investigations, conducted in Earth orbit, can enhance our understanding of space plasma physics and have direct application to certain types of solar system phenomena.