Abstract:The successful development of multimegawatt MPD thrusters depends, to a great extent, on testing them under steady state high altitude space conditions. Steady state testing is required to provide thermal characteristics, life cycle, erosion, and other essential data. The major technical obstacle for ground testing of MPD thrusters in a space simulation facility is the inability of state-of-the-art vacuum systems to handle the tremendous pumping speeds required for multimegawatt MPD thrusters. This is true for… Show more
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.