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ROCKET SCIENCE
Probing the Plume
by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX) Nov 21, 2018

Hall thrusters create thrust by ionizing propellant with electrons trapped in a magnetic field at the open end of the thruster and accelerating the ionized propellant with an electric field.

Mounted on a rotating arm in a space simulation vacuum chamber, two probes collect data from the exhaust plume of a Hall Effect Thruster that will be operated for over 5,000 hours.

Wrapped in clear brown tape to protect it from the erosion of the exhaust, the probes are measuring the properties of the plasma in the plume to determine how efficiently the Hall Thruster is operating.

Hall thrusters create thrust by ionizing propellant with electrons trapped in a magnetic field at the open end of the thruster and accelerating the ionized propellant with an electric field.

Its ability to yield a higher thrust-to-power ratio is part of why this type of advanced solar electric propulsion will be needed for future human expeditions into deep space, including to Mars.

To learn more about how we test electric propulsion technology, visit the 360D virtual tour of NASA's testing facility.


Related Links
Electric propulsion technology at NASA
Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com


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ROCKET SCIENCE
A job and a half for first Eurostar Neo mission
Paris (ESA) Nov 20, 2018
ESA's Neosat platform developed with Airbus - Eurostar Neo - has found its first mission; supplying two satellites for a role currently being performed by three. Eurostar Neo's first home in space will be at 13E on the geostationary arc, where two of its platforms will host identical Eutelsat HOTBIRD payloads, and help them broadcast more than a thousand television channels into homes across Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East. The state-of-the-art Airbus-built spacecraft will replac ... read more

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