NASA's Ion Thruster Sets Continuous Operation Record

cylonlover writes "NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) ion engine has set a new world record by clocking 43,000 hours of continuous operation at NASA's Glenn Research Center's Electric Propulsion Laboratory. The seven-kilowatt thruster is intended to propel future NASA deep space probes on missions where chemical rockets aren't a practical option. The NEXT is one of NASA's latest generation of engines. With a power output of seven kilowatts, it's over twice as powerful as the ones used aboard the unmanned Dawn space probe, yet it is simpler in design, lighter and more efficient, and is also designed for very high endurance. Its current record of 43,000 hours is the equivalent of nearly five years of continuous operation while consuming only 770 kg (1697.5 lbs) of xenon propellant. The NEXT engine (PDF) would provide 30 million newton-seconds of total impulse to a spacecraft. What this means in simple terms is that the NEXT engine can make a spacecraft go (eventually) very far and very fast."

Comments

If I am doing the math right

[MyLongNickName]

This ion thruster placed on Voyager 1 would have taken it up to 37 km/s over 5 years compared to the 17km/s it is going now. Not part of my calculations is that Voyager 1 would have been slightly lighter due to the reduced fuel load. i don't have exact enough numbers to do the calc, but it would have likely been in the low 40's km/s.

Re:If I am doing the math right

[Rich0]

Agreed. You can get a lot of energy from solar in the inner solar system, but ion engines are about long durations, and you're not going to be spending that much time in the inner solar system. I guess you could launch it towards the sun and do a slingshot around it. That will let you pick up a lot more velocity due to spending more time where your panels are effective, but it obviously adds a lot more distance to your trip as well.

You could just use a much larger RTG, or perhaps even a reactor. Not sure how that works out in terms of mass trade-off vs just using a conventional rocket.