Temperature and Lifetime Measurements in the SSX Wind Tunnel

We describe electron temperature measurements in the SSX MHD wind tunnel using two different methods. First, we estimate Te along a chord by measuring the ratio of the C_III 97.7 nm to CIV 155 nm line intensities using a vacuum ultraviolet monochrometer. Second, we record a biasing scan to a double Langmuir probe to obtain a local measurement of Te. The aim of these studies is to increase the Taylor state lifetime, primarily by increasing the electron temperature. Also, a model is proposed to predict magnetic lifetime of relaxed states and is found of predict the lifetime satisfactorily. Furthermore, we find that proton cooling can be explained by equilibration with the electrons.