A new electric propulsion device concept takes advantage of residual helium gas that is trapped in the chemical propellant feed system and currently unused at end of life. The helium ion thruster provides additional propellant resources to extend satellite lifetimes and transfer geostationary orbit space assets to ultrasafe disposal orbits. The predicted capability, if fully allotted to the dis...

Figure 1 shows the ballistic results for propellants 1, A, and B. The burning rates show no signiŽ cant alteration among the three propellants. The differential scanning calorimetry plots for these three propellants shown in Fig. 2 tell a different story, however. Compared with the baseline, both the carbon and the fullerene soot appear to eliminate the secondaryexothermicpeak at approximately ...

Constellations and platoons of small satellites can offer an assortment of benefits over larger, single function spacecraft. The strict mass, volume, and power limitations of small satellites will require unique micro-technologies to help develop efficient propulsion systems for maneuvering. The Free Molecule Micro-Resistojet (FMMR) has been analyzed and tested in this study to determine its ap...

An internal ballistics model has been developed for performance prediction of a solid propellant rocket motor. In this model a 1-D unsteady Euler equation with source terms is considered. The flow is assumed as a non-reacting mixture of perfect gases with space and time varying thermo physical properties. The governing equations in the combustion chamber are solved numerically by using the Steg...

An unprecedented combination of high propellant fraction and small size is required for affordable-scale Mars return, regardless of the number of stages, or whether Mars orbit rendezvous or in-situ propellant options are used. Conventional space propulsion technology is too heavy, even without structure or other stage subsystems. The application of launch vehicle design principles to the develo...

This year’s efforts were devoted to extending the Rocstar version 3 rocket simulation package in several mission-critical areas: time zooming, surface propagation, and mesh modification. These capabilities were verified and applied to several large-scale simulations, including slumping in the Titan, complete propellant burn-out in a tactical motor, and substantial propellant burn-back in the RS...