An ion propulsion system for NASA's Deep Space missions

Rawlin, Vincent K.; Sovey, James S.; Hamley, John A.; Bond, Thomas A.; Matranga, Michael; Stocky, J. F.

doi:10.2514/6.1999-4612

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The Dawn ion propulsion subsystem developed at JPL is described in detail in [13] and is shown in the block diagram in Figure 2. The IPS is based on the single-engine ion propulsion system flown successfully on the DS1 mission [14,15], but modified for multiple thrusters and supporting hardware. The Dawn IPS includes three 30-cm-diameter xenon ion thrusters operated one at a time, two PPUs, two DCIUs, three Thruster-Gimbal Assemblies (TGA) for two-axis control, a Xenon Control Assembly (XCA) for controlling xenon flow to the engines, and a xenon storage tank.…”

Section: Mission and System Flight Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Dawn IPS includes three 30-cm-diameter xenon ion thrusters operated one at a time, two PPUs, two DCIUs, three Thruster-Gimbal Assemblies (TGA) for two-axis control, a Xenon Control Assembly (XCA) for controlling xenon flow to the engines, and a xenon storage tank. The ion thrusters and the PPUs are based on technology developed by NASA [15], and engineered and fabricated for flight by L3 Communications Electron Technologies (L3), Inc., Torrance, CA, with minimal modifications to their designs from DS1. The PPUs convert high voltage solar array power to the voltages and currents needed by the ion thrusters and are mounted to a plate on the -Y panel of the spacecraft with temperature controlled by the spacecraft thermal control system using louvers, heat pipes, heaters, and radiators.…”

Section: Mission and System Flight Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

In-Flight Operation of the Dawn Ion Propulsion System Through Orbit Capture at Vesta

Garner¹,

Rayman²,

Brophy³

et al. 2011

47th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference &Amp;amp; Exhibit

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Da wn missio n, part of N A SA 's Di sco very Pro gra m, has as it s goal the scienti fic explo ratio n of the t wo mo st massive mai n-belt a ster oid s, V esta and Ce res.The Da wn spacecraft wa s launched fro m Cape Cana veral Air Fo rce Stati on o n Septe mber 2 7, 20 07 o n a Delta -II 792 5H-9. 5 (Delta-II Hea vy) rocket that placed the 1 218 k g spacecraft int o an Ea rth-e scape t rajector y. Onboard the spacecra ft is an io n pro pul sion sy stem (I P S) devel oped at the Jet Pr opul sio n Lab orato ry w hich will p rovi de mo st of t he ΔV n eeded fo r helioce ntric t ransfer t o Ve sta, o rbit capture at Ve sta, t ran sfer a mon g Vesta scie nc e orbit s, depart ure a nd e scape fr o m Vesta, heliocentric tran sfer t o Ce res, or bit capt ure at Ce res, a nd t ran sfer a mon g Ce res scie nce o rbit s. The f ir st 80 da ys af ter launc h were dedicated to t h e initial checkout of the spacecra ft w hich wa s follo wed b y about ten mont hs of f ull-p owe r th rusti ng leadi ng to a Mar s g ravity a ssist i n Febr uary 2009 t hat pr ovide d 1 k m/ s o f helioce ntr ic energy i ncrea se and i s the o nly pa rt of t he mi ssi on foll owin g la unch in whic h a needed vel ocity cha nge is not acco mpli she d b y t he I P S. Deter mini stic thr usti ng fo r heliocent ric tran sfe r to Vesta re su med in June 20 09 and was conclude d with o rbit capt ure at Ve sta in July 2 01 1. IP S wa s ope rated fo r appr oxi mately 2 3,40 0 hour s, c on su med a ppr oxi mately 25 0 k g o f xe non, and pro vided a delta -V of app roxi matel y 6. 7 km/ s to achieve or bit captu re at Vesta. IP S per f or mance characteri stic s are very clo se to the expected perf or mance c haracteri stic s base d o n an alysi s perfo r med pre-la unch. A fter a bout thre e week s of su rvey ope ration s IP S will be u sed to maneu ver the spacec raft as neede d for scie nce operatio ns i ncludi ng o rbit t ran sfer s. After appr oxi mately o ne year of science o peratio ns I P S will the n be use d f or e scape fro m Ve sta an d be gi n thr usti ng for crui se t o Cere s with a plan ned arrival date at Ce res in Febr uary 201 5. Thi s pa per p rovide s a n ove rvie w o f Da wn 's mi ssio n objective s and the results o f Daw n IP S mi ssion op eration s thro ugh or bit capture and the start o f science ope ration s at Vesta. I. I NTR ODUC TI ONThe number of missions using electric propulsion is increasing. Deep Space 1 (DS1), launched in 1998, operated its single thruster ion propulsion system for over 16,000 hours before successfully completing its mission [1]. A PPS-1350 Hall thruster was used for primary propulsion on board the European Space Agency's SMART-1 probe, with more flights planned [2]. European and U.S.-launched communications satellites have been launched with SPT-100 -based propulsion modules for attitude control and orbit boosting. The Hayabusa spacecraft returned to Earth after exploring asteroid Itokawa [3] and employed ion engines for primary propulsion. Several communications satellites based on the Boeing 702 b...

show abstract

Section: Mission and System Flight Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mission and System Flight Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

In-Flight Operation of the Dawn Ion Propulsion System Through Orbit Capture at Vesta

Garner¹,

Rayman²,

Brophy³

et al. 2011

47th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference &Amp;amp; Exhibit

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The Dawn ion propulsion subsystem developed at JPL is described in detail in References 9-11 and is shown in the block diagram in Figure 2. The IPS is based on the single-engine ion propulsion system flown successfully on the DS1 mission [12,13], but modified for multiple thrusters and supporting hardware. The Dawn IPS includes three 30-cm-diameter xenon ion thrusters operated one at a time, two PPUs, two DCIUs, three Thruster-Gimbal Assemblies (TGA) for two-axis control, a Xenon Control Assembly (XCA) for controlling xenon flow to the engines, and a xenon storage tank.…”

Section: Mission and Flight System Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Dawn IPS includes three 30-cm-diameter xenon ion thrusters operated one at a time, two PPUs, two DCIUs, three Thruster-Gimbal Assemblies (TGA) for two-axis control, a Xenon Control Assembly (XCA) for controlling xenon flow to the engines, and a xenon storage tank. The ion thrusters and the PPUs are based on technology developed by NASA [13], and engineered and fabricated for flight by L3 Communications Electron Technologies (L3), Inc., Torrance, CA, with minimal modifications to their designs from DS1. The PPUs convert high voltage solar array power to the voltages and currents needed by the ion thrusters and are mounted to a plate on the -Y panel of the spacecraft with temperature controlled by the spacecraft thermal control system using louvers, heat pipes, heaters, and radiators.…”

Section: Mission and Flight System Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

In-Flight Operation of the Dawn Ion Propulsion System: Status at One Year From the Vesta Rendezvous

Garner

Rayman²

2010

46th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference &Amp;amp; Exhibit

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Dawn mission, part of NASA's Discovery Program, has as its goal the scientific exploration of the two most massive main-belt asteroids, Vesta and Ceres.The Dawn spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on September 27, 2007 on a Delta-II 7925H-9.5 (Delta-II Heavy) rocket that placed the 1218 kg spacecraft into an Earth-escape trajectory. On-board the spacecraft is an ion propulsion system (IPS) developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory which will provide most of the ΔV needed for heliocentric transfer to Vesta, orbit capture at Vesta, transfer among Vesta science orbits, departure and escape from Vesta, heliocentric transfer to Ceres, orbit capture at Ceres, and transfer among Ceres science orbits. The Dawn ion thruster [I thought we only called it a thruster. Both terms are used in the paper, but I think a replacement of every occurrence of "engine" with "thruster" would be clearer.] design is based on the design validated on NASA's Deep Space 1 (DS1) mission. However, because of the very substantial (11 km/s) ΔV requirements for this mission Dawn requires two engines to complete its mission objectives. The power processor units (PPU), digital control and interface units (DCIU) slice boards and the xenon control assembly (XCA) are derivatives of the components used on DS1. The DCIUs and thrust gimbal assemblies (TGA) were developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The spacecraft was provided by Orbital Sciences Corporation, Sterling, Virginia, and the mission is managed by and operated from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Dawn partnered with Germany, Italy and Los Alamos National Laboratory for the science instruments. The mission is led by the principal investigator, Dr. Christopher Russell, from the University of California, Los Angeles. The first 80 days after launch were dedicated to the initial checkout of the spacecraft followed by cruise to Mars. Cruise thrusting leading to a Mars gravity assist began on December 17, 2007 and was successfully concluded as planned on October 31, 2008. During this time period the Dawn IPS was operated mostly at full power for approximately 6500 hours, consumed 71.7 kg of xenon and delivered approximately 1.8 km/s of ∆V to the spacecraft. The thrusting to Mars was followed by a coasting period of approximately 3.5 months that included a Mars flyby in February of 2009. The Mars flyby provided a gravity assist (MGA) for a plane change and approximately 1 km/s of heliocentric energy increase and is the only part of the mission following launch in which a needed velocity change is not accomplished by the IPS. During the coast period IPS was operated for a trajectory correction maneuver and for engineering tests but was not operated for primary propulsion. Closest approach to Mars occurred as planned on February 17, 2009 and was followed by another coasting period of just under 4 months in duration. During this last coasting phase IPS was operated only for routine maintenance activities and for system engineering tests. Deterministic thrusting for helioc...

show abstract

“…Two electrostatic devices, the Ion thruster and the Hall effect thruster, have been put into use for both commercial and space science applications. The 2.3 kW NSTAR thruster, shown in Figure 2, has already propelled the NASA Deep Space 1 spacecraft to an asteroid encounter and an extended mission is being considered to perform flybys of two comets [6]. Hughes is using a 500 watt class XIPS-13 Ion thruster for GEO satellite north-south stationkeeping (NSSK).…”

Section: Electric Propulsion Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Spacecraft impacts with advanced power and electric propulsion

Mason

Oleson²

2000 IEEE Aerospace Conference. Proceedings (Cat. No.00TH8484)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An ion propulsion system for NASA's Deep Space missions

Cited by 14 publications

References 13 publications

In-Flight Operation of the Dawn Ion Propulsion System Through Orbit Capture at Vesta

In-Flight Operation of the Dawn Ion Propulsion System Through Orbit Capture at Vesta

In-Flight Operation of the Dawn Ion Propulsion System: Status at One Year From the Vesta Rendezvous

Spacecraft impacts with advanced power and electric propulsion

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About