EXPERIMENTAL EFFECTS OF SCALING ON THE PERFORMANCE OF ION ROCKETS EMPLOYING ELECTRON-BOMBARDMENT ION SOURCES

Technical Report · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1961

OSTI ID:4832438

Reader, P D

Previous investigations have shown that the electronbombardment ion rocket holds considerable promise as a mechanically simple, reliable, and efficient space propulsion device. A scaling program was undertaken to establish the relations betwveen performance parameters and the size of the electron- bombardment ion source. Three ion sources were fabricated and tested. The first of these, a 10-cm-diameter source, has achieved power efficiencies over 80% at a specific impulse of 8300 sec. It has been operated continuously for 10 hr at thrust levels above 10 millipounds. Beam currents of 1/2 amp have been attained yielding thrust values of up to 20 millipounds at 8300 sec. Two geometrically similar sources of 5 and 20 cm in diameter were scaled from the 10-cm-diameter source to allow a performance comparison to be made. The same grid spacing was used for all accelerator systems so that constant current per unit area would be expected. The three ion sources are compared for ion chamber characteristics and over-all power efficiency. The effects of size on operating limits are discussed. Mercury was used as the propellant. (auth)

• Research Organization: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Lewis Research Center, Cleveland
• NSA Number: NSA-16-002788
• OSTI ID: 4832438
• Report Number(s): NP-10930
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ACCELERATORS
CONFIGURATION
CURRENTS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRON BEAMS
ION SOURCES
IONS
JETS
LIQUID METALS
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
MERCURY
PERFORMANCE
PLASMA
POWER
PRESSURE
PROPULSION
ROCKETS
SPACE APPLICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY
STANDARDS