Tag Archives: rocket science

NASA’s NEXT ion thruster runs five and a half years nonstop to set new record

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NEXT is a solar electric propulsion system where electricity from the spacecraft’s solar panels is used to power a a 7-kW class ion thruster. In this, particles of xenon gas are electrically charged and then accelerated to speeds up to 90,000 mph (145,000 km/h). Such thrusters have already been used on spacecraft, such as NASA’s Dawn probe, and engineers are very interested in them because of their much higher performance compared to conventional chemical rocket engines.

via NASA’s NEXT ion thruster runs five and a half years nonstop to set new record.

China’s radical new space drive

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It may not sound very much, less than three ounces, but in space a little thrust goes a long way. Boeing’s advanced XIPS thruster, which fires out Xenon ions at high speed, generates less than a quarter as much thrust from twice as much power. It’s used to maintain satellites in position, or move them to a slightly different orbit. Crucially, Xips weights about twenty kilos, more than an equivalent EmDrive, and the propellant for prolonged operation can weigh much more.

via EmDrive: China’s radical new space drive (Wired UK).

Inside NASA’s Deal for Inflatable Space Station Room

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The new inflatable BEAM will be launched to the International Space Station by a Falcon 9 rocket built by another private spaceflight company, California-based SpaceX. The module will be cocooned inside the unpressurized cargo hold of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule atop the Falcon 9. NASA has already purchased the launch of the SpaceX Falcon under a separate Commercial Resupply Services contract.

via Inside NASA’s Deal for Inflatable Space Station Room.

This site is always fascinated with the technology of space.  Here’s an interesting tour of the International Space Station.

That smooth SpaceX launch? Turns out one of the engines came apart

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The Falcon 9, as its name implies, has nine engines, and is designed to go to orbit if one of them fails. On-board computers will detect engine failure, cut the fuel supply, and then distribute the unused propellant to the remaining engines, allowing them to burn longer. This seems to be the case where that was required, and the computers came through. The engines are also built with protection to limit the damage in cases where a neighboring engine explodes, which appears to be the case here.

via That smooth SpaceX launch? Turns out one of the engines came apart | Ars Technica.

Electric Rockets Are Set to Transform Space Flight

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Charged Up: Electric Rockets Are Set to Transform Space Flight | Txchnologist.

NASA’s Dawn space probe, which is now exploring the asteroid Vesta, was among the first interplanetary craft to employ solar electric propulsion (SEP) for primary propulsion. But Dawn’s three electric engines are rated at only 2.3 kW each (3 horsepower), about the power of a small lawnmower engine, which means which means they had to produce their low thrust for years to build up the high velocity needed to travel to the distant asteroid in a reasonable time.

This tech is so cool.