Publications

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Journal Articles

Numerical analysis of rarefied gas flow dominated by wall reflection in a straight channel

Published in Vacuum, 2026

This study analyzes rarefied gas flow in straight channels using DSMC with the Cercignani-Lampis-Lord model, showing how wall reflection and inlet conditions influence exit velocity and density.

Recommended citation: Lee, J., Satpathy, D., Kawashima, R., Komurasaki, K., Sekine, H., Barth, N., & Koizumi, H. (2026). Numerical analysis of rarefied gas flow dominated by wall reflection in a straight channel. Vacuum, 244(Part B), 114930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vacuum.2025.114930

Solar Activity Dependency of a Specular Intake for an ABEP System

Published in Journal of Electric Propulsion, 2025

This study investigates how solar activity affects the performance of a specular intake for ABEP in VLEO, using DSMC simulations to assess efficiency, pressure, and the validity of the hyperthermal assumption.

Recommended citation: Barth N, Skalden J, Papavramidis K, Tuttas F, Pfeiffer M, Beyer J, Tietz R, Fasoulas S, Herdrich G. Solar activity dependency of a specular intake for an ABEP System. Journal of Electric Propulsion. 2025 Aug 12;4(1):57.
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PICLas-based Intake Simulation Activities for the development of an ABEP Specular Intake

Published in Springer Nature, 2025

This work presents PICLas-based simulation results of a novel specular intake geometry for Atmosphere-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) systems, supporting future design and optimization.

Recommended citation: : Barth N, Skalden J, Papavramidis K, Gutierrez E, Hild F, Beyer J, Pfeiffer M, Tietz R, Maier P, and Herdrich G. PICLas-based Intake Simulation Activities for the development of an ABEP Specular Intake. Accepted for publication at Springer Nature in April 2025.

Experimental Investigation on Ionization Length Required for Efficient Operation of Argon Hall Thrusters

Published in THE JAPAN SOCIETY FOR AERONAUTICAL AND SPACE SCIENCES, 2025

This paper investigates the ionization length necessary for efficient operation of Hall-effect thrusters using argon as a propellant.

Recommended citation: Satpathy D, Sekine H, Barth N, Kawashima R, Komurasaki K, Koizumi H. Experimental investigation on ionization length required for efficient operation of argon Hall thrusters. Transactions of the Japan society for aeronautical and space sciences, 68(1), 12-18. 2025.
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Feasibility studies for a dust observatory between Earth and the asteroid belt

Published in Acta Astronautica, 2022

This paper presents feasibility studies for deploying a space-based dust observatory between Earth and the asteroid belt.

Recommended citation: Srama R, Klinkner S, Fugmann M, Lengowski M, Gläser J, Simolka J, Sommer M, Strack H, Acker D, Barth N, Eckstein S. and others. (2022)"Feasibility studies for a dust observatory between Earth and the asteroid belt." Acta Astronautica, 199, 36–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2022.06.022
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Conference Papers

Magnetohydrodynamic Analysis of High-Density Plasma Hall Thruster Operation.

Published in 39th International Electric Propulsion Conference conference proceedings of ERPS (https://www.electricrocket.org/index.php?page=iepc-conferences), 2025

This study presents a magnetohydrodynamic model to analyze the operation of Hall thrusters under high-density plasma conditions induced by increased mass flow densities, including a analysis of the Hall parameter to reduce Heat loads.

Recommended citation: Barth, N., Komurasaki, K., Satpathy, D., Lee, J., Sekine, H., & Koizumi, H. Magnetohydrodynamic Analysis of High-Density Plasma Hall Thruster Operation. In 39th International Electric Propulsion Conference, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom. 2025, September.
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DIANA-Dedicated Infrastructure and Architecture for Near-Earth Astronautics

Published in 51st International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES) Conference Proceedings, 2022

DIANA is an autonomously deployable lunar base concept for long-duration crewed missions on the Moon’s surface, focusing on sustainability, ISRU, and scientific exploration.

Recommended citation: Acker D, Gutierrez E, Pippert A, Barth N, Böttger J, Diamond M, Kugic A, Palacios Calatayud J, Modi P, Krein V, Khan SA. DIANA-Dedicated Infrastructure and Architecture for Near-Earth Astronautics. 51st International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES). 07/2022.
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Nadine Barth