Posted on 11/20/2003 8:11:24 PM PST by Brett66
NASA Successfully Tests Ion Engine
NASA's Project Prometheus recently reached an important milestone with the first successful test of an engine that could lead to revolutionary propulsion capabilities for space exploration missions throughout the solar system and beyond.
The test involved a High Power Electric Propulsion (HiPEP) ion engine. The event marked the first in a series of performance tests to demonstrate new high-velocity and high- power thrust needed for use in nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) applications.
"The initial test went extremely well," said Dr. John Foster, the primary investigator of the HiPEP ion engine at NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC), Cleveland. "The test involved the largest microwave ion thruster ever built. The use of microwaves for ionization would enable very long-life thrusters for probing the universe," he said.
The test was conducted in a vacuum chamber at GRC. The HiPEP ion engine was operated at power levels up to 12 kilowatts and over an equivalent range of exhaust velocities from 60,000 to 80,000 meters per second. The thruster is being designed to provide seven-to-ten-year lifetimes at high fuel efficiencies of more than 6,000-seconds specific impulse; a measure of how much thrust is generated per pound of fuel. This is a contrast to Space Shuttle main engines, which have a specific impulse of 460 seconds.
The HiPEP thruster operates by ionizing xenon gas with microwaves. At the rear of the engine is a pair of rectangular metal grids that are charged with 6,000 volts of electric potential. The force of this electric field exerts a strong electrostatic pull on the xenon ions, accelerating them and producing the thrust that propels the spacecraft. The rectangular shape, a departure from the cylindrical ion thrusters used before, was designed to allow for an increase in engine power and performance by means of stretching the engine. The use of microwaves should provide much longer life and ion-production capability compared to current state-of- the-art technologies.
This new class of NEP thrusters will offer substantial performance advantages over the ion engine flown on Deep Space 1 in 1999. Overall improvements include up to a factor of 10 or more in power; a factor of two to three in fuel efficiency; a factor of four to five in grid voltage; a factor of five to eight in thruster lifetime; and a 30 percent improvement in overall thruster efficiency. GRC engineers will continue testing and development of this particular thruster model, culminating in performance tests at full power levels of 25 kilowatts.
"This test represents a huge leap in demonstrating the potential for advanced ion technologies, which could propel flagship space exploration missions throughout the solar system and beyond," said Alan Newhouse, Director, Project Prometheus. "We commend the work of Glenn and the other NASA Centers supporting this ambitious program."
HiPEP is one of several candidate propulsion technologies under study by Project Prometheus for possible use on the first proposed flight mission, the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO). Powered by a small nuclear reactor, electric thrusters would propel the JIMO spacecraft as it conducts close-range observations of Jupiter's three icy moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. The three moons could contain water, and where there is water, there is the possibility of life.
Development of the HiPEP ion engine is being carried out by a team of engineers from GRC; Aerojet, Redmond, Wash.; Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices, Torrance, Calif.; Ohio Aerospace Institute, Cleveland; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo.; and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.
LVM
It would be slow but extremely efficient for long flights for light spacecraft ..... exciting times indeed ....
We could catch and retrieve Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft with these.
I figured .3 Newtons with power of 12 KW and velocity of 80000 meters per second, but maybe I made a mistake. Oddly, I first read about ion engines in the Weekly Reader, an elementary school publication. That was a very long time ago. Let's just say it has taken several decades and we are just getting to 1 Newton of thrust.
Wow. That translates to 3750 to 5000 Miles per second, or a speed of 13.5 to 18 MILLION Miles per hour. Or 2.7% of the speed of light
Not quite.
80,000 meters per second is 80Km per second which is about 50 miles per second not 5000 miles per second.
What the hell did you just say?!
English Please?
I think it translates as...
Even with improvements, the Ion engine can't lift it's own weight off the ground, although it can "push" itself on a fairly level, smooth surface..
Given a weightless environment, and millions of miles to accellerate, it can reach incredibly high speeds, however.
Highly charged ions reach an exit speed much higher than chemically powered particles. (rocket fuel exhaust)
Ion engines are best used in a hybrid system.
In such a system, chemically fueled rockets would act as "low" gear, providing the torque for getting the vehicle /load moving, and up to a fairly good velocity. ( up to 10g, or 10 x gravity )
The Ion engines would then take over the long haul work, increasing velocity at a much lower thrust, (1 to 2 gravities) but able to reach much higher speed over time.
At least I think that's what he said.
Sad, no?
Unbelievable that we lost a Mars probe because the right hand did not talk to the left hand.
Who the f*** is in charge here? Anyone with a semblance of mangagement skills?????
Then you have issues like the EPA dictating that NASA can't use a certain chemical on the shuttle main tank insulation, NASA uses new chemical, chunk comes off, we lose lives.
Sigh.
LVM
Unfortunately we would need an ion drive with a lot more "oomph" to make it a practical system for taking humans to Mars. It has the efficiency, but the thrust just isn't what we need for such a mission. But even with this current system we could get sizable advantages over current chemical propulsion systems. In fact I would say that this system, even in it's current state, would make any plans of using conventional chemical propulsion to get to Mars fairly obsolete.
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