Micron Associates GRAVITO-MAGNETIC ORBITS FOR MICRON SIZED PARTICLES, L. B. Crowell

The two body dynamics of an orbiting particle is usually governed by Newton's
laws of gravity and mechanics. Here the Kepler problem has been studied with the
addition of the Lorentz force of magnetism. For micrometeoroids and small man made
debris particles electromagnetic interactions may become important. The space
environment is filled with charged particles, electrons and ions, that may be deposited on
a 1 - 100 microns sized particle. The orbits of such charged particles have been
modeled in earth orbit, with the dipole magnetic field superposed on the gravity field.
An initial study of this problem has been conducted. Figures 1 illustrates a 600
second time frame of particles in a 300 kilometer altitude Earth orbit with a 5.7'
inclination. The solid line is the pure Kepler problem. The dashed lines are the paths
taken by various sized particles with a single positive charge of 1.6x10-'~ coulombs.
The additional energy required to deflect these particles from a Kepler orbit
comes from the deposition of charge at the initial stage in the calculation. From there
the energy of the particle is conserved since both the gravitational and magnetic forces
are conservative, i.e. $F d r = 0. » Micron Associates GRAVITO-MAGNETIC ORBITS FOR MICRON SIZED PARTICLES, L. B. Crowell