ION PROPULSION

( SOLAR ELECTRIC PROPULSION)

Presented By:

CONTENTS AT A GLANCE

What is PROPULSION?
Types of Rocket Propulsion.
ION Propulsion.
Ion Thruster Operation.
Power System .
Why solar Electric Propulsion?
Difference Between a ION Engine & CONVENTIONAL Engine.

Applications.
Advantages.
Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future
March
30, 2006
Draw
Backs.

what is propulsion?
PROPULSION

Propulsion moves things like

spacecraft or jet planes forward by
pushing something out of the back.
Think of a balloon that you blow up
and then release. The air rushing out
of the back pushes the balloon
forward. This happens because of a
phenomenon described by Sir Isaac
Newton: "every action has an equal
Aviation
and theopposite
Environment- Navigating
the Future
and
reaction."
March 30, 2006

TYPES OF ROCKET PROPULSION

Type

Uses

Solid fuel
chemical
propulsion

main
booster

simple, reliable,
not restartable
few moving parts,
lots of thrust

main
booster,
small
control

restartable,
controllable, lots
of thrust

complex

small
control

restartable,
controllable

low thrust

Liquid fuel
chemical
propulsion
Cold-gas
chemical
propulsion

Advantages

Disadvantages

in space restart able,

complex
booster
high
Aviation and the EnvironmentNavigatingcontrollable,
the Future
March 30, 2006
specific impulse
Ion

ION PROPULSION
An ion is simply an atom or molecule that is electrically charged.
Plasma is an electrically neutral gas in which all positive and
negative chargesfrom neutral atoms, negatively charged
electrons, and positively charged ionsadd up to zero .
Plasma is the building block for all types of electric propulsion,
where electric and/or magnetic fields are used to push on the
electrically charged ions and electrons to provide thrust.
Examples of plasmas seen every day are lightning and
fluorescent light bulbs.
The conventional method for ionizing the propellant atoms in an
ion thruster is called electron bombardment .

Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future

March 30, 2006

Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future

March 30, 2006

When a high-energy electron (negative charge) collides with a

propellant atom (neutral charge), a second electron is released, yielding
two negative electrons and one positive ion .
The ionization process in a xenon ion thruster is shown here:
e- + Xe0 => Xe+ + 2e-

An Ion rocket first strips negative electrons from the xenon atoms,
leaving them as "ions", atoms with a net (positive) electric charge.
The ions can now be accelerated by electrical forces, to velocities
much higher than those obtained from a hot gas, but without the need
for a high temperature.
Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future
March 30, 2006

Incidentally, the emerging jet of ions must be combined with a

stream of negative electrons from a separate electron gun .
Without this addition, only positive ions would be emitted, and
the satellite would quickly become negatively charged by the
stripped electrons left behind.
The negative charge would then pull back the ions and undo all
the work of the ion gun.
Of all the exotic means of propulsion in space, this one is
probably closest to practical use.
Xenon atoms are injected into the propulsion chamber. They are
heated and bombarded with electrons until they form a plasma,
with electrons separated from the cores of the atoms, which
become
xenon ions
Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future
8
March 30, 2006

The positively charged xenon ions move towards the back

of the chamber.
The expelled ions propel the ship forward.
Electrons are shot from a cathode towards the ions behind
the ship. The ions are neutralized, and the xenon atoms
float away.

Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future

March 30, 2006

Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future

March 30, 2006

10

10

POWER SYSTEM USED

DS1 has solar panels that collect the Sun's light energy
and convert it into electricity.
The more light they receive, the more electricity they can
make. If the panels get turned away from the Sun, even by
a small amount, the efficiency of the solar collectors
greatly decreases.
All efforts are made to keep the solar panels pointed
directly at the Sun. When it isn't possible to point the
panels straight at the Sun ,DS1 switches to batteries for its
power.
As a spacecraft gets farther from the Sun, it's solar panels
can make less electricity. Usually by the time a spacecraft
gets to Mars, there isn't enough light to make electricity.
Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future
11 11
DS1's power will drop off after DS1 gets past Mars .
March 30, 2006

Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future

March 30, 2006

12

12

why solar electric propulsion?

Any vehicle must carry fuel in order to move. Ion engines are
a way of moving a space ship through space without needing
to carry and use the huge amounts of fuel that conventional
rockets need .
This has several advantages. One is that the less fuel a ship
carries, the lighter it is and the easier it is to get it into space.
Another advantage is that a ship that needs less fuel will not
run out of fuel and stop working as quickly. Much of the energy
in an ion rocket is provided by electricity, which can be made
through solar panels "on the fly" instead of carried into space.

Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future

March 30, 2006

13

13

Difference between a conventional and ion engine

Both kinds of rockets move the ship forward by making thrust.
This thrust is made by propelling matter out of the back of the
ship. Ion engines are different from chemical engines (engines
that work by burning liquid or solid fuel) in where they get their
energy and how they produce thrust .
Chemical engines work by combining fuel with an oxidizer. That
makes a gas that expands and rushes out the back of the
engine, making thrust. Chemical engines are mass-limited
engines. What this means is that how much power a chemical
engine has depends on is how much fuel and oxidizer the rocket
can carry. When the propellant runs out then the rocket cannot
go any faster.
Ion engines take very small amounts of gas and accelerate it to
very high speeds. Ion engines are limited by energy, not by
mass.
Therefore
"running
out
of gas" is not a large problem14with
Aviation and
the EnvironmentNavigating the
Future
14
March 30, 2006
ion engines.

APPLICATIONS
Ion thrusters have many applications for in-space
propulsion.
The best applications of the thrusters make use of the
long lifetime when significant thrust is not needed.
Examples of this include orbit transfers, attitude
adjustments, drag compensation for low earth orbits,
and ultra fine adjustments for more scientific missions.
Ion thrusters can also be used for interplanetary and
deep space missions where time is not crucial.
Continuous thrust over a very long time can potentially
build up a larger velocity than traditional chemical
rockets.
Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future
March 30, 2006

15

15

SERT
The first was SERT (
Space Electric Rocket Test) which tested
two mercury ion engines for thousands of
running hours in the 1970's.
Deep Space 1
NASA has developed an ion thruster
called NSTAR for use in their interplanetary
missions. This thruster was tested in the
highly successful space probe
Deep Space 1, launched in 1998. Hughes
DS1 ION ENGINE has developed the XIPS (Xenon Ion
Propulsion System) for performing
Aviation and the Environment- Navigating
the Future
16 16
stationkeeping
on
March 30, 2006

Artemis
On 12 July 2001, the
European Space Agency failed to
launch their Artemis
telecommunication satellite, and
left it in a decaying orbit. The
satellite's chemical propellant
supply was sufficient to transfer it
to a semi-stable orbit, and over
the next 18 months the
experimental onboard ion
propulsion system (intended for
secondary station keeping and
maneuvering) was utilized to
Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Futuretransfer it to a geostationary
17 17
March 30, 2006
orbit.

Hayabusa
The Japanese space agency's
Hayabusa, which was launched
in 2003 and successfully
rendezvoused with the asteroid
25143 Itokawa and remained in
close proximity for many months
to collect samples and
information, is powered by four
xenon Ion Engines. It is using
xenon ions generated by
microwave ECR, and a Carbon /
Carbon-composite material for
acceleration grid which is
Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Futureresistant to erosion.
18 18
March 30, 2006

Dawn
Dawn was launched on
27 September 2007 to explore the
dwarf planet Ceres and the asteroid
Vesta. To cruise from Earth to its
targets it will use three Deep Space
1 heritage Xenon ion thrusters (firing
only one at a time) to take it in a
long outward spiral. An extended
mission in which Dawn explores
other asteroids after Ceres is also
possible. Dawn's ion drive is capable
of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph
(97 km/h) in 4 days.
Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future
March 30, 2006

19

19

FUTURE APPLICATIONS
LISA Pathfinder

LISA pathfinder structure

Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future
March 30, 2006

LISA Pathfinder is an ESA

spacecraft to be launched in
2009. It will not use ion thrusters
as its primary propulsion system,
but will use both colloid thrusters
and FEEP for very precise
attitude controlthe low thrusts
of these propulsion devices
make it possible to move the
spacecraft incremental distances
very accurately. It is a test for the
possible LISA mission.
20

20

ADVANTAGES
The ion propulsion systems efficient use of fuel and electrical
power enable modern spacecraft to travel farther, faster, and
cheaper than any other propulsion technology currently
available.
Ion engines take very small amounts of gas and accelerate it
to very high speeds, unlike chemical engines which take large
amounts of gas and spew it out at a slow speed.
This means that an ion engine uses a lot less fuel. Ion
engines are limited by energy, not by mass. Therefore
"running out of gas" is not a large problem with ion engines.
Ion propulsion is a great technology to move ships once they
are in space, and it is especially good for very long journeys.
Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future
March 30, 2006

21

21

DRAWBACKS
Ion engines are limited by energy .
Ion engines are limited by how much energy (electricity)
that a rocket can carry or how much energy the solar panels
can collect.
Could not be used on earth ,it work only in space.
Due to the high specific impulse of ion propulsion, it gives
low amounts of thrust.

Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future

March 30, 2006

22

22

vishalraj1988@gmail.com
SOME CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
Ion propulsion plays a significant role in the future
Aerospace transportation .
Solar thermal propulsion systems would be less expensive,
much simpler and more efficient than todays rocket engines.
Rocket engines that tap the Suns energy could dramatically
reduce the cost of putting payloads, such as communications
satellites, in orbit .
The compact systems require much smaller propellant tanks
than conventional chemical rockets, so theres room for
larger payloads. Applications of the technology include
placing satellites into their final Earth orbit positions and
Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future
23 23
adjusting
March 30, 2006 satellites on orbit

Aviation and the Environment- Navigating the Future

March 30, 2006

24

24