What this work contributes
Explains the Lorentz force on a current-carrying tether in Earth's magnetic environment. It supplies a concrete example in which a mapped external field, an electrical circuit, and environmental coupling produce a calculable force.
Where the evidence stops
The return path through ambient plasma and planetary environment are part of the physical system. This is not an isolated craft pushing against a uniform vacuum, and the record alone is not a new flight result.
Original source
Les Johnson / NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. Electrodynamic Tethers for Spacecraft Propulsion. NASA presentation M09-0306, NTRS 20090028726 (2009).
No DOI listed for this record. Use the original institutional source.
How we use it
This record belongs to Sails & environmental fields. Its evidence label describes the cited work, not the maturity of a Metric Flight device. Follow the original methods, corrections and conditions before transferring a result to a different geometry or scale.
Editorial note reviewed 19 October 2026. AI assisted research discovery and synthesis. Citation metadata and claims were checked against primary publication or institutional records; full-text access varies. Read the source for the complete method.