Development Status of the NASA 30-cm Ion Thruster and Power ProcessorXenon ion propulsion systems are being developed by NASA Lewis Research Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to provide flight qualification and validation for planetary and earth-orbital missions. In the ground-test element of this program, light-weight (less than 7 kg), 30 cm diameter ion thrusters have been fabricated, and preliminary design verification tests have been conducted. At 2.3 kW, the thrust, specific impulse, and efficiency were 91 mN, 3300 s, and 0.65, respectively. An engineering model thruster is now undergoing a 2000 h wear-test. A breadboard power processor is being developed to operate from an 80 V to 120 V power bus with inverter switching frequencies of 50 kHz. The power processor design is a pathfinder and uses only three power supplies. The projected specific mass of a flight unit is about 5 kg/kW with an efficiency of 0.92 at the full-power of 2.5 kW. Preliminary integration tests of the neutralizer power supply and the ion thruster have been completed. Fabrication and test of the discharge and beam/accelerator power stages are underway.
Document ID
19950007887
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Sovey, James S. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Haag, Thomas W. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Hamley, John A. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Mantenieks, Maris A. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Patterson, Michael J. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Pinero, Luis R. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Rawlin, Vincent K. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Kussmaul, Michael T. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Manzella, David H. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Myers, Roger M. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
September 1, 1994
Subject Category
Spacecraft Propulsion And Power
Report/Patent Number
NAS 1.15:106740AIAA PAPER 94-3981E-9147NASA-TM-106740
Meeting Information
Meeting: Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference