There is a real rush on to get
hardware into space and we are seeing quick progress on a lot of systems that
just needed the boost. This is another
entrant in plasma thrusters that enable us to operate fairly conveniently in
space at short ranges particularly. And
as stated, it lasts a long time which makes it ideal for long haul runs.
All we need to do now is to get a
great power source and then crank up a system that operates at one G
continuously for days.
Such a system will allow us to
easily explore the solar system quickly.
For all their promise for future space propulsion schemes, plasma
drives have had a hard time gaining momentum. A $3.1 million grant aims to
change that, giving Australian
National University
ANU’s Plasma Research Lab is turning ten years of research into the
Helicon Double Layer Thruster (HDLT), and if they can get it working
consistently in the next two years it could head to space in 2013 as part of a
collaboration between ANU, Surrey University, and European space/aerospace
behemoth EADS-Astrium.
Working plasma drives are sought after for their unparalleled
bang-for-buck efficiency. Unlike chemical rockets that require huge amounts of
propellant to achieve thrust, plasma engines can produce high exhaust
velocities from relatively minuscule amounts of fuel. Researchers think the
HDLT could eventually derive a five-hour burn in space from a single gram of
propellant--the amount that chemical engines burn in the blink of an eye.
How? Simply put, the HDLT uses a shaped magnetic field to guide and
accelerate a superheated gas like Krypton or Xenon (the plasma) to high exhaust
velocities, then expel if from a thruster (one of the key challenges here is
controlling that plasma without burning up the engine itself). Plasma engines
don’t generate the kind of explosive acceleration that solid fuel thrusters do,
but because of their superior fuel-to-thrust ratios, they can operate for far
longer on far less fuel, leaving more room for payloads.
However, plasma drives aren’t powerful enough to lift payloads from
Earth. So the overarching idea is to place satellites or spacecraft in space on
the backs of chemical rockets, then allow plasma drives to take over propulsion
once there. Widespread deployment of the technology is still years away, but
ANU researchers hope to be using their HDLT to keep a satellite on-station before
mid-decade. If they can get that working smoothly, the first deep-space-faring
spacecraft propelled by plasma engines may not be too far behind.
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