Beam-Centroid Tracking Instrument for Ion Thrusters.

Abstract

Thrust vector stability for an electrostatic ion engine can be measured with improved sensitivity and time resolution by the method described here. Four double-wire Langmuir probes, aligned in the form of a cross, are placed in the exhaust plume and are translated by a motorized positioning system to balance the currents collected along two orthogonal axes. The thrust vector position is thereby measured with an angular resolution of <0.01 deg and a response time of <5 s.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 20, 1995
Accession Number
ADA293654

Entities

People

  • J. E. Pollard

Organizations

  • The Aerospace Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Detectors
  • Electric Propulsion
  • Energy
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Engines
  • Ion Thrusters
  • Langmuir Probes
  • Materials
  • Materials Processing
  • Measurement
  • Mechanics
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Probes
  • Propulsion Systems
  • Space Systems
  • Thrusters

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Propulsion Engineering.
  • Control Systems Engineering.
  • Geodesy

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster