A Ground-Test Facility for High-Power Electric Thrusters Operating on Condensible Propellants

Abstract

Work reported here resulted in the design and fabrication of a space-simulation facility used to test electric thrusters for spacecraft. The facility was specifically designed to accommodate thrusters using condensable metal propellants such as bismuth. Apparatus includes a large 2-m x 4-m vacuum vessel evacuated through three 2,000-liter-per-second turbomolecular pumps, a 20-kW DC power supply, a remote translation system, and computer data acquisition center.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA426679

Entities

People

  • Lyon B. King

Organizations

  • Michigan Technological University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Computers
  • Data Acquisition
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Power Supplies
  • Propellants
  • Propulsion Systems
  • Pumps
  • Research Facilities
  • Rocket Propulsion
  • Simulations
  • Space Propulsion
  • Test Facilities
  • Thrusters
  • Translations

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Propulsion Engineering.
  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Electrical Engineering

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster
  • Space - Satellites