Monopropellant plume-induced contamination testing for the Europa Lander mission concept

Abstract

The induced contamination from two hydrazine-propelled thrusters is studied in the high-vacuum plume test facility for chemical thrusters at DLR Göttingen, STG-CT. A number of representative material samples are exposed to the freely expanding pulsed thruster plume for subsequent in-depth analysis at JPL. The plume gas is monitored in-situ with a mass spectrometer and quartz crystal microbalances, while non-gaseous ejecta are recorded with a high-speed camera setup. With the detailed chemical analysis ongoing we report on the measurements obtained during the campaign and immediate post-test observations.