An RF heated tandem mirror plasma propulsion studyExperimental results on a tandem mirror hybrid plume rocket involving a three-stage system of plasma injection, heating, and subsequent injection through a magnetic nozzle are presented. In the experiments, a plasma is created by breaking down the gas with electron cyclotron resonance heating at 2 kW in the central cell, and the ion species is then heated to high temperatures with ion cyclotron resonance heating at 10 kW in the end cell. A Langmuir probe measured an electron density of 2.5 x 10 to the 16th/cu m and a temperature of 100 eV in the central cell and an ion density of 1.25 x 10 to the 17th/cu m and a temperature of 500 eV in the end cell.
Document ID
19890059418
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Yang, T. F. (Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. Cambridge, MA, United States)
Yao, X. (Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. Cambridge, MA, United States)
Peng, S. (Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. Cambridge, MA, United States)
Krueger, W. A. (MIT Cambridge, MA, United States)
Chang-Diaz, F. R. (NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX; MIT, Cambridge, MA, United States)