The performance of a coaxial, gas-fed, self-field, quasi-steady pulsed magnetoplasmadynamic thruster (MPDT) was measured using a swinging gate thrust stand equipped with a laser interferometer and an RF proximeter. Careful calibration of the thrust stand, and other diagnostics insured that the measurement errors, barring the effects of fluctuations in the discharge voltage, are well below 2%. T...

The paper describes the design, calibration, and characterization of a thrust stand capable of nano-Newton resolution. A low uncertainty calibration method is proposed and demonstrated. A passive eddy current based damper, which is non-contact and vacuum compatible, is employed. Signal analysis techniques are used to perform noise characterization, and potential sources are identified. Calibrat...

The rocket motor test stand is the equipment used to motor's performance under controlled conditions. This measure thrust of Dextrose and ability components such as tube, fuel, nozzle cap itself. Before flight carried out, it must go through this test. In study, variations in are 2000, 2250, 2500, 2750, 3000 N. stands Aluminum 6063-T6 which has light density medium strength. Numerical simulatio...

Directed energy laser ablation at the surface of an asteroid or comet produces an ejection plume that will impart a thrust on the asteroid. This thrust can mitigate a threatened collision with the Earth. This technique uses the asteroid itself as the deflection propellant. The DESTAR laser system is designed to produce a sufficiently intense spot on the surface of an asteroid to accomplish this...

There is interest in the use of a heliconplasma source in propulsive applications as both an ion source anda thruster. Development of a helicon thruster requires a performance baseline as a basis for future optimization and modification. For the first time, the thrust of a helicon plasma source ismeasured using a null-type inverted pendulum thrust stand at an operating pressure of 2 × 10−5 torr...

High thrust-to-power ratio on Hall-effect thrusters allows for more efficient thrust generation and better overall performance. It allows Hall-effect thrusters to perform more thrust-intensive maneuvers such as orbit raising, thus saving the mass of a second engine purely for those maneuvers. This paper presents the initial performance measurements of aHall-effect thruster using in-channel elec...