Space propulsion breakthrough: new spacecraft ion engine tested

[Astronuc]

The European Space Agency and the Australian National University have successfully tested a new design of spacecraft ion engine that dramatically improves performance over present thrusters and marks a major step forward in space propulsion capability.

The new experimental engine, called the Dual-Stage 4-Grid (DS4G) ion thruster, was designed and built under a contract with ESA in the extremely short time of four months by a dedicated team at the Australian National University.

The test model achieved voltage differences as high as 30kV and produced an ion exhaust plume that traveled at 210,000 m/s, over four times faster than state-of-the-art ion engine designs achieve.

http://www.physorg.com/news9786.html

 

[Danger]

Very interesting, Astro. I wasn't aware of the ion erosion problem.

 

[Astronuc]

Ion erosion is a problem is most if not all ion thrusters, whether electrostatic or EM. In magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD), there is the additional problem of cathode spotting - localized accelerated erosion where the arc current is higher.

 

[Pengwuino]

What is the difference between these engines and the Deep Space 1's engine?

 

[Astronuc]

Deep Space 1 is a classic ion thruster, IIRC with a single stage.

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/bss/factsheets/xips/nstar/ionengine.html

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/deepspace_propulsion_000816.html

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/ion/past/90s/ds1.htm


whereas, The Dual-Stage 4-Grid ion engine has two stages,

http://prl.anu.edu.au/SP3/research/SAFEandDS4G

http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/propulsion/safe_thruster.htm

 

[Astronuc]

Some new information:

http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/pro/pp/DS4G/background.htm

http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/gsp/completed/C19255ExS.pdf


Other concepts:

http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/pro/pro_pp.htm