The 8-CM ion thruster characterization

Abstract

The performance capabilities of the 8 cm diameter mercury ion thruster were increased by modifying the thruster operating parameters and component hardware. The initial performance levels, representative of the Hughes/NASA Lewis Research Center Ion Auxiliary Propulsion Subsystem (IAPS) thruster, were raised from the baseline values of thrust, T = 5 mN, and specific impulse, I sub sp = 2,900s, to thrust, T = 25 mN and specific impulse, I sub sp = 4,300 s. Performance characteristics including estmates of the erosion rates of various component surfaces are presented.