The electronegative plasma thruster PEGASES belongs to the electrostatic thruster family. The main innovation is to use both positive and negative ions for thrust. This is done by creating a high density electronegative plasma (a plasma with both positive and negative ions and electrons). A magnetic field is used to filter away the electrons, such that an electron free region is formed at the periphery of the plasma. This electron free region is called an ion-ion plasma where only positive and negative ions are present. It is in this extractor area the positive and negative ions will be accelerated to provide the thrust.
Just doing a bit of advertising for the research work of my former colleagues http://www.lpp.fr/?Plasmas-pour-la-propulsion&lang=enQuoteThe electronegative plasma thruster PEGASES belongs to the electrostatic thruster family. The main innovation is to use both positive and negative ions for thrust. This is done by creating a high density electronegative plasma (a plasma with both positive and negative ions and electrons). A magnetic field is used to filter away the electrons, such that an electron free region is formed at the periphery of the plasma. This electron free region is called an ion-ion plasma where only positive and negative ions are present. It is in this extractor area the positive and negative ions will be accelerated to provide the thrust.Interesting. How long can this thruster be run at a time befor thruster erosion becomes an issue? How long can it maintain the 102 Km/s thrust before it has to be shut down? (Overheating, static electrical buildup, etc). How much actual thrust does this motor put out thus far? in kilograms or pounds? This sounds like a promising technology, but without a bit more specifics, it's hard to judge the utility of this system.Jason
Quote from: Garrett on 06/12/2010 02:48 pmJust doing a bit of advertising for the research work of my former colleagues http://www.lpp.fr/?Plasmas-pour-la-propulsion&lang=enQuoteThe electronegative plasma thruster PEGASES belongs to the electrostatic thruster family. The main innovation is to use both positive and negative ions for thrust. This is done by creating a high density electronegative plasma (a plasma with both positive and negative ions and electrons). A magnetic field is used to filter away the electrons, such that an electron free region is formed at the periphery of the plasma. This electron free region is called an ion-ion plasma where only positive and negative ions are present. It is in this extractor area the positive and negative ions will be accelerated to provide the thrust.Interesting. How long can this thruster be run at a time befor thruster erosion becomes an issue? How long can it maintain the 102 Km/s thrust before it has to be shut down? (Overheating, static electrical buildup, etc). How much actual thrust does this motor put out thus far? in kilograms or pounds? This sounds like a promising technology, but without a bit more specifics, it's hard to judge the utility of this system.Jason
Just doing a bit of advertising for the research work of my former colleagues http://www.lpp.fr/?Plasmas-pour-la-propulsion&lang=enQuoteThe electronegative plasma thruster PEGASES belongs to the electrostatic thruster family. The main innovation is to use both positive and negative ions for thrust. This is done by creating a high density electronegative plasma (a plasma with both positive and negative ions and electrons). A magnetic field is used to filter away the electrons, such that an electron free region is formed at the periphery of the plasma. This electron free region is called an ion-ion plasma where only positive and negative ions are present. It is in this extractor area the positive and negative ions will be accelerated to provide the thrust.
On first blush this sounds like a fairly similar technique to that used by ELWING.They've effectively eradicated the problem of thruster erosion with their flight systems -- which have flown on a number of payloads already.Ross.
Quote from: JasonAW3 on 06/13/2010 05:30 amQuote from: Garrett on 06/12/2010 02:48 pmJust doing a bit of advertising for the research work of my former colleagues http://www.lpp.fr/?Plasmas-pour-la-propulsion&lang=enQuoteThe electronegative plasma thruster PEGASES belongs to the electrostatic thruster family. The main innovation is to use both positive and negative ions for thrust. This is done by creating a high density electronegative plasma (a plasma with both positive and negative ions and electrons). A magnetic field is used to filter away the electrons, such that an electron free region is formed at the periphery of the plasma. This electron free region is called an ion-ion plasma where only positive and negative ions are present. It is in this extractor area the positive and negative ions will be accelerated to provide the thrust.Interesting. How long can this thruster be run at a time befor thruster erosion becomes an issue? How long can it maintain the 102 Km/s thrust before it has to be shut down? (Overheating, static electrical buildup, etc). How much actual thrust does this motor put out thus far? in kilograms or pounds? This sounds like a promising technology, but without a bit more specifics, it's hard to judge the utility of this system.JasonThis thruster concept is in the absolute early stages of development. At the moment it's a lab experiment being run by two researchers and one Ph.D. student. There may be a post-doc on the team also. No thrust measurements have been performed yet as far as I know. The 102 km/s figure is for electric thrusters in general, probably a gridded ion thruster or a Hall thruster.It really is an advanced concept, with many years of research yet to be performed before it's known if it is truly a viable thruster option.Cheers
So, no real world tests as yet? How about at least some computer simulations?Jason