Performance of the NSTAR ion propulsion system on the Deep Space One mission

Polk, James E.; Kakuda, R.; Anderson, John R.; Brophy, John R.; Rawlin, Vincent K.; Patterson, P. Daniel; Sovey, James S.; Hamley, John A.

doi:10.2514/6.2001-965

Cited by 60 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…For example, the NSTAR ion thruster on the Deep Space One mission is thought to have suffered from this type of contamination. 56 In that mission, the thruster operated at the minimum throttling point for 4.5 minutes before the thruster experienced continuous recycling and shut down. Later the thruster ignited properly without continuous recycling and the short appeared to have been cleared by thermal cycling of the thruster.…”

Section: Clearing Debris In Opticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lifetime Assessment of the NEXT Ion Thruster

VanNoord

2007

43rd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference &Amp;amp; Exhibit

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Ion thrusters are low thrust, high specific impulse devices with required operational lifetimes on the order of 10,000-100,000 hours. The NEXT ion thruster is the latest generation of ion thrusters under development. The NEXT ion thruster currently has a qualification level propellant throughput requirement of 450 kg of xenon, which corresponds to roughly 22,000 hours of operation at the highest throttling point. Currently, a NEXT engineering model ion thruster with prototype model ion optics is undergoing a long duration test to determine wear characteristics and establish propellant throughput capability. The NEXT thruster includes many improvements over previous generations of ion thrusters, but two of its component improvements have a larger effect on thruster lifetime. These include the ion optics with tighter tolerances, a masked region and better gap control, and the discharge cathode keeper material change to graphite. Data from the NEXT 2000 hour wear test, the NEXT long duration test, and further analysis is used to determine the expected lifetime of the NEXT ion thruster. This paper will review the predictions for all of the anticipated failure mechanisms. The mechanisms will include wear of the ion optics and cathode's orifice plate and keeper from the plasma, depletion of low work function material in each cathode's insert, and spalling of material in the discharge chamber leading to arcing. Based on the analysis of the NEXT ion thruster, the first failure mode for operation above a specific impulse of 2000 s is expected to be the structural failure of the ion optics at 750 kg of propellant throughput, 1.7 times the qualification requirement. An assessment based on mission analyses for operation below a specific impulse of 2000 s indicates that the NEXT thruster is capable of double the propellant throughput required by these missions.

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Section: Clearing Debris In Opticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lifetime Assessment of the NEXT Ion Thruster

VanNoord

2007

43rd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference &Amp;amp; Exhibit

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“…In all cases, the gridded-ion thruster was the technology of choice for the IIE mission because the I SP optimized too high for Hall thrusters to be considered feasible. The EP system mass model was based on mass estimates of a low-power gridded-ion propulsion system, with heritage from the NSTAR 37 and NEXT 38 programs, that is currently unfunded and, as a result, not developed. The power level chosen (1000 W e into the EP system) was chosen based on a trade of power level versus the number of RPS units that could reasonably be placed on a spacecraft.…”

Section: IImentioning

confidence: 99%

Mission Design for the Innovative Interstellar Explorer Vision Mission

Fiehler

McNutt

2006

Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets

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“…The feed system uses an industry developed proportional flow control valve from the HTPS system and metal-lined, composite-overwrapped propellant tank as used by the xenon fueled gridded ion thruster system used on the NASA Deep Space 1 spacecraft. 18 The propellant tank was sized as necessary, assuming a constant tankage fraction, depending on the required propellant load.…”

Section: Propellant Feed System and Xenon Storagementioning

confidence: 99%