A class of miniaturized pulsed plasma thrusters (PPT), known as MicroPPTs, is currently in development at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Edwards Research Site, California. The MicroPPTs use a surface discharge across solid Teflon propellant to provide precise impulse bits in the 10 micro-newton- per-second range. In the near term, these thrusters can provide propulsive attitude control on 150-kg-class spacecraft using one-fifth the dry mass of conventional torque rods and ...
The anomaly experienced on the USAF Electric Propulsion Space Experiment (ESEX) mission related to the silver-zinc battery is described. The on-orbit observations of the battery behavior in relationship to the thruster firings are summarized, as well as a description of the catastrophic failure which ended the ESEX mission. Although a final cause of the battery failure was not definitized, the data collected on-orbit, from ground tests, and from previous programs ...
Reports by Author
