Radioisotope electric propulsion missions utilizing a common spacecraft design

Fiehler, Douglas; Oleson, Steven R.

doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2005.03.044

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The launch architecture chosen for the IIE provides more capability, but at a higher cost, than the previous studies 27,28,29,30,31,32 . displays the differences between the capabilities of these launch architectures 33,34,35,36 .…”

Section: IImentioning

confidence: 71%

“…Previous REP trajectory designs 27,28,29,30,31,32 showed that because of the low-acceleration capability of REP a certain mission architecture is optimal for outer solar system missions. This approach, consisting of a high-excess escape energy (C 3 ) launch from Earth (C 3 100 km 2 /s 2 ) followed by a long period of electric propulsion (EP) thrusting, has been shown to allow rendezvous of a small class spacecraft (dry mass less than 1000 kg) with many bodies throughout the outer solar system 32 .…”

Section: IImentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This approach, consisting of a high-excess escape energy (C 3 ) launch from Earth (C 3 100 km 2 /s 2 ) followed by a long period of electric propulsion (EP) thrusting, has been shown to allow rendezvous of a small class spacecraft (dry mass less than 1000 kg) with many bodies throughout the outer solar system 32 . Because of the similarities between the IIE mission and previously studied outer solar system missions, and because the IIE requires the minimum trip time to 200 A.U., a similar mission architecture was chosen.…”

Section: IImentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Mission Design for the Innovative Interstellar Explorer Vision Mission

Fiehler

McNutt

2006

Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: IImentioning

confidence: 71%

Section: IImentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: IImentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Mission Design for the Innovative Interstellar Explorer Vision Mission

Fiehler

McNutt

2006

Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Other potential missions have been postulated with RPSbased electric propulsion; a combination of higher power output and lower generator mass will be needed to further increase the specific power (ref. 29). A brief description of the results of the ARPS mission concept study follows:…”

Section: Eventual Payoffs For Future Missionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

NASA's Advanced Radioisotope Power Conversion Technology Development Status

Anderson

Sankovic

Wilt

et al. 2007

2007 IEEE Aerospace Conference

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

NASA's Advanced Radioisotope Power Systems (ARPS) project is developing the next generation of radioisotope power conversion technologies that will enable future missions that have requirements that cannot be met by either photovoltaic systems or by current radioisotope power systems (RPSs). Requirements of advanced RPSs include high efficiency and high specific power (watts/kilogram) in order to meet future mission requirements with less radioisotope fuel and lower mass so that these systems can meet requirements for a variety of future space applications, including continual operation surface missions, outerplanetary missions, and solar probe. These advances would enable a factor of 2 to 4 decrease in the amount of fuel required to generate electrical power. Advanced RPS development goals also include long-life, reliability, and scalability. This paper provides an update on the contractual efforts under the Radioisotope Power Conversion Technology (RPCT) NASA Research Announcement (NRA) for research and development of Stirling, thermoelectric, and thermophotovoltaic power conversion technologies. The paper summarizes the current RPCT NRA efforts with a brief description of the effort, a status and/or summary of the contractor's key accomplishments, a discussion of upcoming plans, and a discussion of relevant system-level benefits and implications. The paper also provides a general discussion of the benefits from the development of these advanced power conversion technologies and the eventual payoffs to future missions (discussing system benefits due to overall improvements in efficiency, specific power, etc.).

show abstract

“…However, for potential missions that have been postulated with RPS-based electric propulsion (Fiehler and Oleson, 2004), a combination of higher power output and lower generator mass will be needed to further increase the specific power. The use of MarM-247 as the heater head material, instead of Inconel 718, will be the first step towards achieving higher power output.…”

Section: Asrg Flight Unit Specific Powermentioning

confidence: 99%