Engineering topics

Walker, Mitchell

Publications and source records attributed to Walker, Mitchell.

4 records

NASA NTRS2015

Electronegative Gas Thruster - Direct Thrust Measurement Project

This effort is an international collaboration and academic partnership to mature an innovative electric propulsion (EP) thruster concept to TRL 3 through direct thrust measurement. The initial target application is for Small Satellites, but can be extended to higher power. The Plasma propulsion with Electronegative GASES (PEGASES) concept simplifies ion thruster operation, eliminates a neutralizer requirement and should yield longer life capabilities and lower cost implementation over conventional gridded ion engines. The basic proof-of concept has been demonstrated and matured to TRL 2 over the past several years by researchers at the Laboratoire de Physique des Plasma in France. Due to the low maturity of the innovation, there are currently no domestic investments in electronegative gas thrusters anywhere within NASA, industry or academia. The end product of this Center Innovation Fund (CIF) project will be a validation of the proof-of-concept, maturation to TRL 3 and technology assessment report to summarize the potential for the PEGASES concept to supplant the incumbent technology. Information exchange with the foreign national will be one-way with the exception of the test results. Those test results will first go through a standard public release ITAR/export control review, and the results will be presented in a public technical forum, and the results will be presented in a public technical forum.

Dankanich, John↗

NASA NTRS2015

Electronegative Gas Thruster

The project is an international collaboration and academic partnership to mature an innovative electric propulsion thruster concept to Technology Research Level-3 (TRL-3) through direct thrust measurement. The project includes application assessment of the technology ranging from small spacecraft to high power. The Plasma propulsion with Electronegative GASES(PEGASES) basic proof of concept has been matured to TRL-2 by Ane Aanesland of Laboratoire de Physique des Plasma at Ecole Polytechnique. The concept has advantages through eliminating the neutralizer requirement and should yield longer life and lower cost over conventional gridded ion engines. The objective of this research is to validate the proof of concept through the first direct thrust measurements and mature the concept to TRL-3.

Dankanich, John↗

NASA NTRS2013

Recommended Practice for Pressure Measurements and Calculation of Effective Pumping Speeds During Electric Propulsion Testing

The electric propulsion community has been implored to establish and implement a set of universally applicable test standards during the research, development, and qualification of electric propulsion systems. Variability between facility-to-facility and more importantly ground-to-flight performance can result in large margins in application or aversion to mission infusion. Performance measurements and life testing under appropriate conditions can be costly and lengthy. Measurement practices must be consistent, accurate, and repeatable. Additionally, the measurements must be universally transportable across facilities throughout the development, qualification, spacecraft integration, and on-orbit performance. A recommended practice for making pressure measurements, pressure diagnostics, and calculating effective pumping speeds with justification is presented.

Dankanich, John W.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Recommended Practices in Thrust Measurements

Accurate, direct measurement of thrust or impulse is one of the most critical elements of electric thruster characterization, and one of the most difficult measurements to make. The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics has started an initiative to develop standards for many important measurement processes in electric propulsion, including thrust measurements. This paper summarizes recommended practices for the design, calibration, and operation of pendulum thrust stands, which are widely recognized as the best approach for measuring micro N- to mN-level thrust and micro Ns-level impulse bits. The fundamentals of pendulum thrust stand operation are reviewed, along with its implementation in hanging pendulum, inverted pendulum, and torsional balance configurations. Methods of calibration and recommendations for calibration processes are presented. Sources of error are identified and methods for data processing and uncertainty analysis are discussed. This review is intended to be the first step toward a recommended practices document to help the community produce high quality thrust measurements.

microthrusters↗