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APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
SATELLITE 6 (ATS-6)
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The purpose of the ATS-6
flight experiment was to demonstrate NSSK of
a geosynchronous satellite using two
electron bombardment ion engine systems with
cesium propellant. Thruster development
tests included a lifetest of 2614 hours and
471 cycles. Thruster input power was 0.15 kW
which resulted in a thrust of 4.5 mN at a
specific impulse of 2500 s. The ATS-6 was
launched on May 30, 1974. One of the ion
engines operated for about one hour and the
other for 92 hours. Both of the engines
failed to provide thrust on the restarts due
to discharge- chamber cesium flooding. The
feed system flooding problem caused
overloading of the discharge and high-
voltage power supplies. This failure
mechanism was verified through a series of
ground tests.
The IPS operation demonstrated an absence of
EMI related to spacecraft systems, verified
predictions of spacecraft potential with
engines operating, and demonstrated
compatibility with the S/C star tracker. It
was found that the ion engines or just the
neutralizer could discharge large negative
spacecraft potentials at all times. Further,
tests indicated that "differential
charging was reduced by the neutralizer when
operated in spot mode and eliminated by
operation of the ion engine."
The preceding was an excerpt from:
Sovey, J. S., Rawlin, V. K., and Patterson,
M. J.: "Ion Propulsion Development
Projects in U. S.: Space Electric Rocket
Test 1 to Deep Space 1." Journal of
Propulsion and Power, Vol. 17, No. 3,
May-June 2001, pp. 517-526.
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