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Revolutionary Ion Thruster To Be Tested On International Space Station (abc.net.au)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the ion-you dept.

Three Australian researchers have developed "an ion thruster that could replace the current chemical-based rocket propulsion technology, which requires huge volumes of fuel to be loaded onto a spacecraft." Slashdot reader theweatherelectric shares this article from the ABC News: An Australian-designed rocket propulsion system is heading to the International Space Station for a year-long experiment that ultimately could revolutionize space travel. The technology could be used to power a return trip to Mars without refuelling, and use recycled space junk for the fuel... It will be placed in a module outside the ISS, powered, as Dr Neumann describes, by an extension cord from the station. "What we'll be doing with our system is running it for as long as we can, hopefully for the entire year on the space station to measure how much force it's producing for how long."
In the early 2000s "it was basically a machine the size of a fist that spat ions from a very hot plasma ball through a magnetic nozzle at a very high velocity," and the researchers are now hoping to achieve the same effect by recycling the magnesium in space junk.

4 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Interview with Dr Neumann by SpaceDave · · Score: 5, Informative

    For those interested, there is a lengthy and interesting interview with Dr Neumann about this on The Space Show. http://thespaceshow.com/show/0...

  2. Some more information by Ian+Whitchurch · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hi,

    I'm Ian Whitchurch, the CEO of Neumann Space.

    First of all, if you want more technical information about the Neumann Drive, there's an article in Applied Physics Letters. It may be available here

    http://scitation.aip.org/conte...

    If that isnt working, then you might know someone with an APL subscription, or it might be somewhere on the internets under "A centre-triggered magnesium fuelled cathodic arc thruster uses sublimation to deliver a record high specific impulse Patrick R. C. Neumann, Marcela Bilek and David R. McKenzie".

    Secondly, it's not just the Neumann Drive that's going up to the Bartolomeo platform on the ISS. We're planning on taking a bunch of other peoples small projects, which deserve to go into space, but cant by themselves get a ride into orbit, or an easy method to get power, heating, cooling and communications once they are there. If you're interested, you might want a look at this fine Airbus DS press release.

    https://airbusdefenceandspace....

    There is also information available about the Facility for Australian Space Tests on our website, at http://neumannspace.com/fast/

    Thirdly, Im happy to answer further questions people might have.

    Finally, our poor, poor website. Also, the original post lacks a poll, which itself lacks a Cmdr Taco option. What the heck am I supposed to vote for ?

    1. Re:Some more information by Ian+Whitchurch · · Score: 5, Informative

      It's press coverage - it's going to be hypey, and thats just the world we live in. As indeed is toxic comment environments :)

      While running on space junk would be nice, it doesnt need to happen for the drives to be useful. If you're rocking 11 000s of specific impulse, then it's simple enough to bring a shipment of cathodes up from earth, transfer to a SEP tug and take them to where they are needed. The fact they are solid, and therefore dont need to be kept at the correct temperature and pressure helps a lot.

      Cathode geometry is something we need to do more science on. At the moment, we've been working with one inch diameter circular cathodes, and the 'star' erosion pattern appears to be a thing. Yes, we're definitely looking at cast/extruded cathodes. We've got some ideas about how to move cathodes forward, and thats on the 'to do' list for the model thats going up to the ISS.

  3. Re:Comparison, please by Ian+Whitchurch · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/S... is as good a summary as any about NASA's current ion engines, while the APL paper by Neumann, Bilek and McKenzie for the http://scitation.aip.org/conte... has information about the Neumann Drive.

    Short version is that xenon drives vary in specific impulse and power efficiency depending on the power levels, while Neumann Drives vary in specific impulse and power efficiency depending on the fuel used, while the power level affects how many pulses per seconds. Higher power levels appear to cause faster wear of the grid in Gridded Ion Thrusters, or the chamber in the case of Hall Effect Thrusters, as well as needing more investment in Power Processing Units and so on. Additionally, there is the issue of tankage, regulators and so on for dealing with the xenon itself, which means it's not a straight 1:1 comparison. That said ...

    TLDR : Magnesium in a Neumann Drive runs about 9 uN/watt and 11 000s specific impulse. A NSTAR running at ~1000 watts input has about 32 uN/watt and 2850s of specific impulse.