Scientists are working on a plasma engine that could take humans to
Mars without the need to refuel.
Hall thrusters are electric rocket engines that use a 45,
000 mph stream of plasma to push spacecraft forward. Pictured is a prototype hall thruster firing in a vacuum chamber
Hall thrusters are electric rocket engines that use a 45,000 mph stream of plasma to push spacecraft forward.
Because they consume
100 million times less fuel than conventional chemical rockets, a
Hall thruster is ideal for exploring Mars, asteroids and the edge of the solar system.
To prolong the lifespan of Hall thrusters, a team of researchers from the
French National Center for Scientific Research are working on something known as a wall-less thruster.
HOW DO
HALL THRUSTERS
WORK?
Conventional hall thrusters work by creating a low-pressure plasma discharge in a magnetic and electric fields.
They use a hollow cathode located on the downstream perimeter of the thruster to generate electrons.
The anode - or channel - of the Hall thruster is charged positively by the thruster's power supply.
The electrons are attracted to the channel walls and accelerate in the upstream direction.
As the electrons move toward the channel, they come across a magnetic field generated by the thruster's powerful electromagnets.
The high-strength magnetic field traps the electrons, causing them to form into a circling ring at the downstream end of the thruster channel.
The propellant, usually an inert gas such as xenon or krypton, is injected into the thruster's channel.
When the propellant ions are generated, they experience the electric field produced between the channel, which is positive, and the ring of electrons, which is negativem and accelerate out of the thruster, creating an ion beam.
The thrust is generated from the force that the ions impart to the electron cloud.
This force is transferred to the magnetic field, which, in turn, is transmitted to the magnetic circuit of the thruster.
Conventional hall thrusters work by creating a low-pressure plasma discharge in a magnetic and electric fields.
They use a hollow cathode located on the downstream perimeter of the thruster to generate electrons.
The anode - or channel - of the Hall thruster is charged positively by the thruster's power supply.
The electrons are attracted to the channel walls and accelerate in the upstream direction.
As the electrons move toward the channel, they come across a magnetic field generated by the thruster's powerful electromagnets.
The high-strength magnetic field traps the electrons, causing them to form into a circling ring at the downstream end of the thruster channel.
The propellant, usually an inert gas such as xenon or krypton, is injected into the thruster's channel.
When the propellant ions are generated, they experience the electric field produced between the channel, which is positive, and the ring of electrons, which is negativem and accelerate out of the thruster, creating an ion beam.
The thrust is generated from the force that the ions impart to the electron cloud.
This force is transferred to the magnetic field, which, in turn, is transmitted to the magnetic circuit of the thruster.
'The major drawback of Hall thrusters is that the discharge channel wall materials largely determine the discharge properties, and consequently, the performance level and the operational time,' said
Julien Vaudolon, the primary researcher in the
Electric Propulsion team led by
Professor Stéphane Mazouffre in the ICARE-CNRS Laboratory,
France.
Vaudolon explained that the wall materials play a role in the plasma properties mainly through secondary electron emis
- published: 16 Dec 2015
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