Electrostatic Thrusters for Microgravity Propulsion in a Pressurized Environment
Motivated by long-term human exploration missions which could benefit from robotic assistants, a prototype thruster based on an Ion-Drag Pump was developed. This thruster utilizes no consumable propellant. Its operated by ionizing the air it floats in. Such an engine only requires recharging of its...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
2011
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62186 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6063-3227 |
| _version_ | 1826198927192358912 |
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| author | Pina, Alexander L. Wellman, Gregory Garriott, Richard Saenz Otero, Alvar Lozano, Paulo C |
| author2 | Lincoln Laboratory |
| author_facet | Lincoln Laboratory Pina, Alexander L. Wellman, Gregory Garriott, Richard Saenz Otero, Alvar Lozano, Paulo C |
| author_sort | Pina, Alexander L. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Motivated by long-term human exploration missions which could benefit from robotic assistants, a prototype thruster based on an Ion-Drag Pump was developed. This thruster utilizes no consumable propellant. Its operated by ionizing the air it floats in. Such an engine only requires recharging of its electrical power in order to propel itself in a pressurized microgravity environment. The prototypes were modeled analytically in 1D, tested using a micro-scale, and then validated in 3D aboard the ZERO-G reduced gravity aircraft. The results demonstrated that an engine with an inlet area of 5cm2 and a needle density of 1.0 needles/cm2 can provide a thrust of at least 3mN with electrical inputs of 10kV and less than 100uA. The successful demonstration is a proof of concept and opens the possibility for future engines that could provide the desired thrust to support astronauts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:11:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/62186 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:11:47Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/621862022-09-27T17:46:29Z Electrostatic Thrusters for Microgravity Propulsion in a Pressurized Environment Pina, Alexander L. Wellman, Gregory Garriott, Richard Saenz Otero, Alvar Lozano, Paulo C Lincoln Laboratory Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Space Systems Laboratory Lozano, Paulo C. Saenz-Otero, Alvar Pina, Alexander L. Wellman, Gregory Lozano, Paulo C. Motivated by long-term human exploration missions which could benefit from robotic assistants, a prototype thruster based on an Ion-Drag Pump was developed. This thruster utilizes no consumable propellant. Its operated by ionizing the air it floats in. Such an engine only requires recharging of its electrical power in order to propel itself in a pressurized microgravity environment. The prototypes were modeled analytically in 1D, tested using a micro-scale, and then validated in 3D aboard the ZERO-G reduced gravity aircraft. The results demonstrated that an engine with an inlet area of 5cm2 and a needle density of 1.0 needles/cm2 can provide a thrust of at least 3mN with electrical inputs of 10kV and less than 100uA. The successful demonstration is a proof of concept and opens the possibility for future engines that could provide the desired thrust to support astronauts. 2011-04-08T22:04:03Z 2011-04-08T22:04:03Z 2010-03 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/ConferencePaper 978-1-4244-3887-7 1095-323X INSPEC Accession Number: 11258229 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62186 Saenz-Otero, A. et al. “Electrostatic Thrusters for Microgravity Propulsion in a Pressurized Environment.” Aerospace Conference, 2010 IEEE. 2010. 1-15. Copyright © 2010, IEEE https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6063-3227 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/AERO.2010.5446772 IEEE Aerospace Conference Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE |
| spellingShingle | Pina, Alexander L. Wellman, Gregory Garriott, Richard Saenz Otero, Alvar Lozano, Paulo C Electrostatic Thrusters for Microgravity Propulsion in a Pressurized Environment |
| title | Electrostatic Thrusters for Microgravity Propulsion in a Pressurized Environment |
| title_full | Electrostatic Thrusters for Microgravity Propulsion in a Pressurized Environment |
| title_fullStr | Electrostatic Thrusters for Microgravity Propulsion in a Pressurized Environment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Electrostatic Thrusters for Microgravity Propulsion in a Pressurized Environment |
| title_short | Electrostatic Thrusters for Microgravity Propulsion in a Pressurized Environment |
| title_sort | electrostatic thrusters for microgravity propulsion in a pressurized environment |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62186 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6063-3227 |
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