Preliminary Mission Capabilities Assessment of a Magnetically Shielded Miniature Hall Thruster
- Paper number
IAC-14,C4,4,4,x22253
- Author
Mr. Ryan Conversano, UCLA, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Nitin Arora, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Dan Goebel, Jet Propulsion Laboratory - California Institute of Technology, United States
- Coauthor
Prof. Richard Wirz, University of California, Los Angeles, United States
- Year
2014
- Abstract
The recent proliferation of proposed NASA missions employing sub-200 kg spacecraft makes a high-efficiency, long-life, low-power Hall thruster an attractive candidate propulsion system. Magnetic shielding has been shown to dramatically extend the projected operational lifetime of Hall thrusters in the ~6 kW power range and shows promise to achieve similar results on the miniature scale. This investigation aims to validate that the application of magnetic shielding on low power Hall thrusters results in a significant extension of operational lifetime. Additionally, the increase in efficiency and performance from the significant reduction in plasma-wall interaction losses, likely achieved through the unique magnetic field topology, will be explored. The 4 cm MaSMi (Magnetically Shielded Miniature) Hall thruster has been developed and has undergone initial performance testing using plume diagnostics, yielding a thrust of 19 mN and a specific impulse of 1870 s at a total efficiency of 43\% (59\% anode efficiency). The goal of this phase of the investigation is threefold: first, we aim to validate the efficiency, thrust, specific impulse, and extension of operational life of the MaSMi Hall thruster; second, we hope to develop a computational model of the plasma discharge inside the thruster channel to identify any unique plasma behaviors inside a miniature magnetically shielded Hall thruster; third, we hope to explore the spacecraft- and mission-enabling capabilities of the MaSMi Hall thruster.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-14,C4,4,4,x22253.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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