darkdave3000 said:
Why do you keep referencing Dawn, isn't the latest ion drive with the highest performing figures the NEXT-C used in the DART mission? Isn't that a better reference?
You have previously asked about Dawn and Deep Space 1
darkdave3000 said:
Or is your Dawn Engine still the leading contender?
Was there any difference between Deep Space 1 and Dawn's ion drives?
It's appropriate to reference existing, deployed systems, since they actually worked in service. The one would ask, can we do better. Note that all long distance missions to date have deployed gravity assist maneuvers, and have taken many years to complete.
Looking at Deep Space 1, the spacecraft had a mass of 1,071 pounds (486 kilograms), or less than 0.5 tonne. So, very small. If one want to seen a manned crew on a long mission, one would be looking at many metric tons of space craft.
Note that a heliocentric orbit for DS1 was achieved with a third stage (chemical rocket).
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/deep-space-1/in-depth/
On Nov. 10 controllers commanded the ion thruster to fire for the first time but it operated for only 4.5 minutes before stopping.
On Nov. 24, 1998, controllers once again fired Deep Space 1’s ion propulsion system (fueled by xenon gas) when the spacecraft was about 3 million miles (4.8 million kilometers) from Earth. This time, the engine ran continuously for 14 days and demonstrated a specific impulse of 3,100 seconds, as much as 10 times higher than possible with conventional chemical propellants.
On July 29, 1999, was traveling at a velocity of about 10 miles per second (15.5 kilometers per second) while passing near-Earth asteroid 9660 Braille.
By the end of 1999, DS1’s ion engine had expended 48.5 pounds (22 kilograms) of xenon to impart a total change in velocity (delta-v) of 4,265 feet per second (1,300 m/s), or 1.3 km/s, which is not fast.On its way to Borrelly, it set the record for the longest operating time for a propulsion system in space. By Aug. 17, 2000, the engine had been operating for 162 days as part of an eight-month run.
The spacecraft’s ion engine was finally turned off Dec. 18, 2001, having operated for 16,265 hours and provided a total change in velocity (delta-v) of about 3 miles per second (4.3 kilometers per second), the largest delta-v achieved by a spacecraft with its own propulsion system.
NSTAR was apparently used on DS1 -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Solar_Technology_Application_Readiness
https://www.researchgate.net/public...opulsion_system_on_the_Deep_Space_One_mission
and DAWN -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_(spacecraft)#Propulsion_system
Where are we today - NEXT-C in the DART space craft?
https://dart.jhuapl.edu/Mission/Impactor-Spacecraft.php
The total mass of the DART spacecraft was approximately 1,345 pounds (610 kilograms) at launch and roughly 1280 pounds (580 kilograms) at impact. DART carries both hydrazine propellant (about 110 pounds, or 50 kilograms) for spacecraft maneuvers and attitude control, and xenon (about 130 pounds, or 60 kilograms) to operate the ion propulsion technology demonstration engine.
https://dart.jhuapl.edu/Mission/Impactor-Spacecraft.php
NEXT-C is a solar-powered electric propulsion system, using a gridded ion engine producing thrust by electrostatic acceleration of ions (electrically charged atoms) formed from the xenon propellant. NEXT–C offers improved performance (higher specific impulse and throughput), fuel efficiency, and operational flexibility compared to the ion propulsion systems flown on NASA's previous planetary mission of Dawn and Deep Space 1.
https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/space/sep/gridded-ion-thrusters-next-c/
NEXT-C specifics:
Performance
The NEXT engine is a type of
electric propulsion in which thruster systems use electricity to accelerate the
xenon propellant to speeds of up to 90,000mph (145,000km/h or 40 km/s). NEXT can produce 6.9
kW thruster power and 236
mNthrust. It can be throttled down to 0.5kW power, and has a
specific impulse of 4,190 seconds (compared to 3,120 for
NSTAR). The NEXT thruster has demonstrated a total impulse of 17 MN·s; which is the highest total impulse ever demonstrated by an ion thruster.
[2] A beam extraction area 1.6 times that of NSTAR allows higher thruster input power while maintaining low voltages and ion current densities, thus maintaining thruster longevity.
https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/NEXT-C_FactSheet_11_1_21_rev4.pdf
System input power - 0.6 – 7.4 kW
Thrust - 25-235 mN
Isp - 4220 s max, 4190 s was mentioned in the webpage article, which is a 1.34 improvement over NSTAR (used on DS1 and DAWN) ~3100 s (90 mN thrust). NEXT-C thrust is about 2.6 times that of NSTAR.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Solar_Technology_Application_Readiness#ApplicationsDART apparently experienced problems with the NEXT-C propulsion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Asteroid_Redirection_Test#Ion_thruster
Early tests of the ion thruster revealed a reset mode that induced higher current (100 A) in the spacecraft structure than expected (25 A). It was decided not to use the ion thruster further as the mission could be accomplished without it, using conventional thrusters fueled by the 110 pounds of
hydrazine onboard.
NSTAR performance: "The 30-cm ion thruster operates over a 0.5 kW to 2.3 kW input power range providing thrust from 19 mN to 92 mN. The specific impulse ranges from 1900 s at 0.5 kW to 3100 s at 2.3 kW." Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Solar_Technology_Application_Readiness#Performance
NEXT-C performance: "NEXT can consume 6.9
kW power to produce 237
mN thrust, with a
specific impulse of 4,170 seconds", or can be throttled down to 0.5 kW power, when it has a
specific impulse of 1320 seconds. Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEXT_(ion_thruster)#Performance
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20110000521
Some values of performance characteristics seem to vary among different sources.
NEXT-C gave greater thrust and Isp by using greater power levels. One has to consider available kW, and the voltage and current. It would be useful to dig deeper into the NSTAR and NEXT designs.
6.9 kW (NEXT)/2.3 kW (NSTAR) ~ 3, which gave an improvement of thrust 237 mN (NEXT)/90 mN (NSTAR) ~ 2.6, with an Isp improvement of 1.34.
The missions of DS1, DAWN and DART were different, so in addition to differences in power supply, it is difficult to compare the relative performance of the thruster involved.
Still, there are a long way from kN thrust levels, or multi-MW power supplies.