An overview of plasma science in the first Tethered-Satellite project (TSS-1)

This paper is an overview of the project TSS-1 and of its basic electrodynamic-science objectives. To this purpose, we first discuss the electrodynamics of conducting tethers in orbit and, secondly, provide a detailed description of the project and its payload. We also add, in the final part of the paper, a short account of the first TSS-1 flight which took place in August 1992.