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Low cost electric propulsion thruster for deep space robotic science missions
| Content Provider | NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
|---|---|
| Author | Manzella, David |
| Copyright Year | 2008 |
| Description | Electric Propulsion (EP) has found widespread acceptance by commercial satellite providers for on-orbit station keeping due to the total life cycle cost advantages these systems offer. NASA has also sought to benefit from the use of EP for primary propulsion onboard the Deep Space-1 and DAWN spacecraft. These applications utilized EP systems based on gridded ion thrusters, which offer performance unequaled by other electric propulsion thrusters. Through the In-Space Propulsion Project, a lower cost thruster technology is currently under development designed to make electric propulsion intended for primary propulsion applications cost competitive with chemical propulsion systems. The basis for this new technology is a very reliable electric propulsion thruster called the Hall thruster. Hall thrusters, which have been flown by the Russians dating back to the 1970s, have been used by the Europeans on the SMART-1 lunar orbiter and currently employed by 15 other geostationary spacecraft. Since the inception of the Hall thruster, over 100 of these devices have been used with no known failures. This paper describes the latest accomplishments of a development task that seeks to improve Hall thruster technology by increasing its specific impulse, throttle-ability, and lifetime to make this type of electric propulsion thruster applicable to NASA deep space science missions. In addition to discussing recent progress on this task, this paper describes the performance and cost benefits projected to result from the use of advanced Hall thrusters for deep space science missions. |
| File Size | 814306 |
| Page Count | 12 |
| File Format | |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_20080015824 |
| Archival Resource Key | ark:/13960/t53f9qx4q |
| Language | English |
| Publisher Date | 2008-03-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Spacecraft Propulsion And Power Electric Propulsion Hall Thrusters Space Missions Cost Reduction Deep Space 1 Mission Nasa Space Programs Ion Engines Specific Impulse Propulsion System Configurations Life Cycle Costs Chemical Propulsion Ntrs Nasa Technical Reports Server (ntrs) Nasa Technical Reports Server Aerodynamics Aircraft Aerospace Engineering Aerospace Aeronautic Space Science |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Technical Report |
