Left: 7500-hr flight prototype high-voltage Hall accelerator.15,000-hr laboratory-model high-voltage Hall accelerator. Right: 15,000-hr laboratory model high-voltage Hall accelerator.
During 2006, researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center successfully improved the lifetime capability of an electric propulsion technology currently under development to expand NASA’s ability to conduct cost-capped deep-space robotic science missions. This benefit is due to the high fuel efficiency that can be achieved using electric propulsion. Although electric propulsion thrusters can achieve high specific impulse, a measure of fuel efficiency, these thrusters are capable of doing so only at low thrust levels. Therefore, in order to reach distant destinations within the solar system, it is necessary for electric propulsion thrusters to operate for thousands of hours. This requires the development of long-lasting electric propulsion thruster technologies.
These efforts are the responsibility of the In-Space Propulsion Technology Program, as part of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The High Voltage Hall Accelerator (HIVHAC) development project is one such advanced development project that seeks to improve the lifetime capability of Hall thrusters, an electric propulsion technology currently used for stationkeeping of commercial Earth orbital satellites to enable deep-space NASA missions.
Recently the HIVHAC project was responsible for the design and fabrication of two new Hall thrusters: a flight prototype thruster designed and fabricated by a team from Glenn and the Aerojet Corporation (Redmond, WA) and a laboratory-model thruster designed and fabricated in-house. The flight prototype thruster was designed to enable operational lifetimes of greater than 7500 hr at specific impulses up to 2800 sec at a maximum power of 3.5 kW. The laboratory-model thruster was designed to provide an operational life-time of greater than 15,000 hr at the same operating conditions as the flight prototype thruster. The twofold improvement in projected lifetime was achieved through the implementation of a breakthrough mechanical design innovation. Experimental validation of this innovation is planned for 2007.
Glenn contacts:
Dr. David H. Manzella, 216-977-7432, David.H.Manzella@nasa.gov
Dr. Hani Kamhawi, 216-977-7435, Hani.Kamhawi-1@nasa.gov
Author:
Dr. David H. Manzella
Headquarters program office:
In-Space Propulsion, Science Mission Directorate
Programs/projects:
Deep space robotic science exploration missions (Discovery, New Frontiers)
Last updated: December 14, 2007
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