Capabilities and technical issues regarding the Stirling radioisotope generator

Schreiber, Jeffrey G.

doi:10.1109/aero.2002.1035420

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 16 publications

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“…Recent mission designs suggest that the propulsion system may need to operate 90,000+ hrs. 2 To fully realize the benefits of an EP system, the thruster needs to operate for the entire duration of the mission at approximately 1 kW of input power. HETs life times fall well short of the required system life time due to channel insulator erosion.…”

Section: Nomenclaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Performance Analysis of a Medium-Power Helicon Thruster

Palmer¹,

Walker²,

Manete³

et al. 2008

44th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference &Amp;amp; Exhibit

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A medium-power helicon thruster (MPHT) is an electric propulsion device that uses a helicon plasma source to achieve specific impulses of up to 1500 s with argon propellant. 1 The Center of Studies and Activities for Space (CISAS) has created a prototype design, and the Georgia Institute of Technology (GA Tech) has designed and built a nominally 1.5-kW MPHT that sustains high density, steady-state plasma over a range of operating conditions. All tests are performed in the GA Tech vacuum test facility at an operating pressure less than 3.1 x 10-5 Torr-Ar. Ion number density, electron temperature, and electron energy distribution function measurements are taken with an RF-compensated Langmuir probe as a function of RF frequency (2-15 MHz), RF forward power (0-1.5 kW), magnetic field strength (0-1100 Gauss), and argon mass flow rate (0.74-4.45 mg/s). The maximum ion number density is 8.0 x 10 18 m-3. The measurements are compared with several known helicon plasma sources. Experimental characterization of this device allows validation of the 1-D and 2-D codes developed at CISAS, which simulate plasma acceleration during vacuum expansion.

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Section: Nomenclaturementioning

confidence: 99%