A collisionless model for high specific impulse accelerators.
Particle free path estimates for axisymmetric high specific impulse plasma accelerators, discussing collisionless plasma simulated by computer
Watson, V. R.↗
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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
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Performance analysis of chemical stages in the 300 to 400 second specific impulse range for interplanetary missions
Trajectory parameters for escaping from & braking into earth orbit utilizing single vehicle stage with high specific impulse
SPECIFIC IMPULSE↗
Project NEO Specific Impulse Testing Solutions
The Neo test stand is currently configured to fire a horizontally mounted rocket motor with up to 6500 lbf thrust. Currently, the Neo test stand can measure flow of liquid propellant and oxidizer, pressures residing in the closed system up to the combustion chamber. The current configuration does not have the ability to provide all data needed to compute specific impulse. This presents three methods to outfit the NEO test fixture with instrumentation allowing for calculation of specific impulse.
oxygen↗
Minimum propellant consumption round-trip trajectories to Mars for constant-thrust, constant-specific-impulse vehicles with optimum coasting periods
Minimum propellant consumption trajectories to Mars for constant-thrust, constant-specific impulse vehicles with optimum coasting periods
INTERPLANETARY TRAJECTORY↗
Low Specific Impulse Ion Engine Final Report
Development and testing of low specific impulse ion thruster
King, H. J.↗
Simulation of Trajectories for High Specific Impulse Deep Space Exploration
Difficulties in approximating flight times and deliverable masses for continuous thrust propulsion systems have complicated comparison and evaluation of proposed propulsion concepts. These continuous thrust propulsion systems are of interest to many groups, not the least of which are the electric propulsion and fusion communities. Several charts plotting the results of well-known trajectory simulation codes were developed and are contained in this paper. These charts illustrate the dependence of time of flight and payload ratio on jet power, initial mass, specific impulse and specific power. These charts are intended to be a tool by which people in the propulsion community can explore the possibilities of their propulsion system concepts. Trajectories were simulated using the tools VARITOP and IPOST. VARITOP is a well known trajectory optimization code that involves numerical integration based on calculus of variations. IPOST has several methods of trajectory simulation; the one used in this paper is Cowell's method for full integration of the equations of motion. The analytical method derived in the companion paper was also used to simulate the trajectory. The accuracy of this method is discussed in the paper.
Polsgrove, Tara↗
Nozzle and cavity wall cooling limitations on specific impulse of a gas-core nuclear rocket.
Experimental and theoretical study of the performance of a gas-core nuclear rocket, showing that in a uranium plasma nuclear rocket with an 8-ft cavity diameter the cavity wall can be cooled up to a power level of 7400 MW when the rocket operates at a pressure of 1000 atm and the propellant mass flow rate is 10 lbm/sec. A maximum cavity specific impulse of 5800 sec was obtained under such operating conditions. The fact that the wall heat flux was much lower for reactor powers below this level is linked to the presence of a relatively cool, opaque insulating layer of seeded propellant between the hot plasma and the solid wall. The additional coolant required for nozzle protection reduced the maximum cavity specific impulse to 5200 sec.
Kascak, A. F.↗
Optimum specific impulse for electrostatic engines used for satellite raising to synchronous equatorial orbit
Optimum specific impulse for electrostatic engines used for satellite raising to synchronous equatorial orbit
Hrach, F. J.↗
High specific impulse gas-core reactors
Calculated estimates of gas core nuclear rocket engine weights for specific impulses ranging from 3000 to 7000 seconds and for engine thrusts ranging from 4400 to 440,000 newtons
Ragsdale, R. G.↗
Analytical predictions of delivered specific impulse
FORTRAN 4 programs for calculating inviscid, one-dimensional and axisymmetric nonequilibrium nozzle flow fields and improving analytical predictions of delivered specific impulse
Quan, V.↗
High Specific-Impulse Electrospray Explorer for Deep-Space (HiSPEED): Stage-Based Electrospray Propulsion System for CubeSats
The objective of the High Specific-impulse Electrospray Explorer for Deep-space (HiSPEED) project is to develop an efficient propulsion system to enable deep-space exploration with small satellites. The ion electrospray propulsion system developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Space Propulsion Laboratory is one of the first systems to offer compact and efficient propulsion that is compatible with the CubeSat form factor. However, existing thruster heads have lifetimes less than the required firing time for a deep-space mission. Therefore, a stage-based approach is considered where burnt out thruster heads are ejected and replaced, thereby extending the overall lifetime of the propulsion system.
Propulsion↗
Addition of solid oxidizer increases liquid fuel specific impulse
Adding soluble solid oxidizers to hydrazine and similar fuels makes them useful in low temperature bipropellant systems. These oxidizers improve the low specific impulse, high freezing point, low boiling point, and low density of the fuels.
Hendel, F. J.↗
The evolutionary development of high specific impulse electric thruster technology
Electric propulsion flight and technology demonstrations conducted primarily by Europe, Japan, China, the U.S., and the USSR are reviewed. Evolutionary mission applications for high specific impulse electric thruster systems are discussed, and the status of arcjet, ion, and magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters and associated power processor technologies are summarized.
Sovey, James S.↗
Preliminary evaluation of the air and fuel specific-impulse characteristics of several potential ram-jet fuels IV : hydrogen, a-methylnaphthalene, and carbon / Benson E. Gammon
A preliminary analytical evaluation of the air and fuel specific-impulse characteristics of hydrogen, a-methylnapthalene, and graphite carbon has been made. Adiabatic constant-pressure combustion flame temperatures for each fuel at several equivalence ratios were calculated for an initial air temperature of 560 degrees R and a pressure of 2 atmospheres.
ENGINES, RAM JET↗
Effective specific impulse of external nuclear pulse propulsion systems
An investigation of a simple self-similar flow model for an external nuclear pulse propulsion system indicates that to achieve the high effective specific impulse of such a system three principal factors are required. The are (1) attaining pulses of optimum energy, (2) attaining good propellant collimation, and (3) using an ablative material for the pusher surface which has high absorptivity for radiant energy at the propellant stagnation temperature.
Reynolds, T. W.↗
Recent Results From Internal and Very-Near-Field Plasma Diagnostics of a High Specific Impulse Hall Thruster
Floating potential and ion current density measurements were taken on the laboratory model NASA-173Mv2 in order to improve understanding of the physical processes affecting Hall thruster performance at high specific impulse. Floating potential was measured on discharge chamber centerline over axial positions spanning 10 mm from the anode to 100 mm downstream of the exit plane. Ion current density was mapped radially up to 300 mm from thruster centerline over axial positions in the very-near-field (10 to 250 mm from the exit plane). All data were collected using a planar probe in conjunction with a high-speed translation stage to minimize probe-induced thruster perturbations. Measurements of floating potential at a xenon flow rate of 10 mg/s have shown that the acceleration layer moved upstream 3 1 mm when the voltage increased from 300 to 600 V. The length of the acceleration layer was 14 2 mm and was approximately constant with voltage and magnetic field. Ion current density measurements indicated the annular ion beam crossed the thruster centerline 163 mm downstream of the exit plane. Radial integration of the ion current density at the cathode plane provided an estimate of the ion current fraction. At 500 V and 5 mg/s, the ion current fraction was calculated as 0.77.
Hofer, Richard R.↗
Coaxial plasma thrusters for high specific impulse propulsion
A fundamental basis for coaxial plasma thruster performance is presented and the steady-state, ideal MHD properties of a coaxial thruster using an annular magnetic nozzle are discussed. Formulas for power usage, thrust, mass flow rate, and specific impulse are acquired and employed to assess thruster performance. The performance estimates are compared with the observed properties of an unoptimized coaxial plasma gun. These comparisons support the hypothesis that ideal MHD has an important role in coaxial plasma thruster dynamics.
Schoenberg, Kurt F.↗
The evolutionary development of high specific impulse electric thruster technology
Electric propulsion flight and technology demonstrations conducted in the USA, Europe, Japan, China, and USSR are reviewed with reference to the major flight qualified electric propulsion systems. These include resistojets, ion thrusters, ablative pulsed plasma thrusters, stationary plasma thrusters, pulsed magnetoplasmic thrusters, and arcjets. Evolutionary mission applications are presented for high specific impulse electric thruster systems. The current status of arcjet, ion, and magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters and their associated power processor technologies are summarized.
Sovey, James S.↗