----- Original Message ----- From: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2003 8:29 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Ion Engine Under Consideration for Jupiter Mission Passes Test MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=jbDer10eHKhO-3BCLCXxIg.. http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=eg--DD9WvwhO-3BCLCXxIg..
Natalie Godwin (818) 354-0850
Carolina Martinez (818) 354-9382
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Dwayne Brown (202) 358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
NEWS RELEASE: 2003-173 December 23, 2003
Ion Engine Under Consideration for Jupiter Mission Passes Test
A new ion propulsion engine design, one of several candidate
propulsion technologies under study by NASA's Project Prometheus for
possible use on the proposed Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter mission, has
been successfully tested by a team of engineers at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
The event marked the first performance test of the Nuclear Electric
Xenon Ion System (Nexis) ion engine at the high-efficiency,
high-power, and high-thrust operating conditions needed for use in
nuclear electric propulsion applications. For this test the Nexis
engine was powered using commercial utility electrical power. Ion
engines used on the proposed Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter spacecraft
would draw their power from an on-board space nuclear reactor. The
ion engines, or electric thrusters, would propel the orbiter around
each of the icy worlds orbiting Jupiter -- Ganymede, Callisto and
Europa -- to conduct extensive, close-range exploration of their
makeup, history and potential for sustaining life.
"On the very first day of performance testing, the Nexis thruster
demonstrated one of the highest efficiencies of any xenon ion thruster
ever tested," said Dr. James Polk, the principal investigator of the
ion engine under development at JPL.
The test was conducted on December 12, in the same vacuum chamber at
JPL where earlier this year, the Deep Space 1 flight spare ion
thruster set the all time endurance record of 30,352 hours (nearly 3.5
years) of continuous operation. The Nexis engine operated at a power
level of over 20 kilowatts, nearly 10 times that of the Deep Space 1
thruster, which enables greater thrust and ultimately higher
spacecraft velocities for a given spacecraft mass. It is designed to
process two metric tons of propellant, 10 times the capability of the
Deep Space 1 engine, and operate for
10 years, two to three times the Deep Space 1 thruster life.
Team members working on the Nexis engine also helped develop the first
ion engine ever flown on NASA's highly successful Deep Space 1
mission, which validated 12 high-risk advanced technologies, among
them the use of the first ion engine in space.
"The Nexis thruster is a larger, high performance descendant of the
Deep Space 1 thruster that achieves its extraordinary life by
replacing the metal, previously used in key components, with advanced
carbon based materials," said Tom Randolph, the Nexis program manager
at JPL. "The thruster's revolutionary performance results from an
extensive design process including simulations using detailed computer
models developed and validated with the Deep Space 1 life test, and
other component test data."
Unlike the short, high-thrust burns of most chemical rocket engines
that use solid or liquid fuels, the ion engine emits only a faint blue
glow of electrically charged atoms of xenon - the same gas found in
photo flash tubes and in many lighthouse bulbs. The thrust from the
engine is as gentle as the force exerted by a sheet of paper held in
the palm of your hand. Over the long haul though, the engine can
deliver 20 times as much thrust per kilogram of fuel than traditional
rockets.
Key to the ion technology is its high exhaust velocity. The ion engine
can run on a few hundred grams of propellant per day, making it
lightweight. Less weight means less cost to launch, yet an
ion-propelled spacecraft can go much faster and farther than any other
spacecraft.
"This test, in combination with the recent test of the High Power
Electric Propulsion ion engine at NASA's Glenn Research Center, is
another example of the progress we are making in developing the
technologies needed to support flagship space exploration missions
throughout the solar system and beyond," said Alan Newhouse, director,
Project Prometheus. "We have challenged our team with difficult
performance goals and they are demonstrating their ability to be
creative in overcoming technical challenges."
NASA's Project Prometheus is making strategic investments in space
nuclear fission power and electric propulsion technologies that would
enable a new class of missions to the outer Solar System, with
capabilities far beyond those possible with current power and
propulsion systems. The first such mission under study, the Jupiter
Icy Moon Orbiter would launch in the next decade and provide NASA
significantly improved scientific and telecommunications capabilities
and mission design options. Instead of generating only hundreds of
watts of electricity like the Cassini or Galileo missions, which used
radioisotope thermoelectric generators, the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter
could have up to tens of thousands of watts of power, increasing the
potential science return many times over.
Development of the Nexis ion engine is being carried out by a team of
engineers from JPL; Aerojet, Redmond, Wash.; Boeing Electron Dynamic
Devices, Torrance, Calif.; NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center,
Huntsville, Ala.; Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo.;
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Ga.; and the Aerospace
Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif.
For more information about Project Prometheus on the Internet, visit:
http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=TyqWd3B31s5O-3BCLCXxIg.. .
Information on the proposed Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter mission is
available at: http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=dUwUgrqSB7VO-3BCLCXxIg.. .
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