How NASA uses artificial lightning to simulate the fury of planetary entry

NASA Ames operates a unique facility that uses massive electrical discharges to recreate the extreme conditions spacecraft face when entering alien atmospheres. By firing shockwaves through test gases, researchers can measure the intense radiative heating that probes encounter when visiting gas giants.

The Electric Arc Shock Tunnel (EAST) is the only facility globally capable of replicating the hypervelocity environments found during entry into gas giant atmospheres. To achieve this, the system utilizes a capacitor bank capable of storing 1.25 megajoules of energy. This power is released to drive a shockwave through a test gas, allowing scientists to observe the resulting light emissions.

These observations are critical for understanding radiative heating, a key factor in spacecraft design. By studying how air reacts under these extreme electrical and kinetic pressures, NASA engineers can better predict the thermal stresses that probes must survive during their missions.

Source: Why NASA Is Making Air Explode Using Electricity - The Electric Arc Shock Tunnel