The NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) ion propulsion system has been in advanced technology development under the NASA In-Space Propulsion Technology project. The highest fidelity hardware planned has now been completed by the government/industry team, including: a flight prototype model (PM) thruster, an engineering model (EM) power processing unit, EM propellant management assemblies, a breadboard gimbal, and control unit simulators. Subsystem and system level technology validation testing is in progress. To achieve the objective Technology Readiness Level 6, environmental testing is being conducted to qualification levels in ground facilities simulating the space environment. Additional tests have been conducted to characterize the performance range and life capability of the NEXT thruster. This paper presents the status and results of technology validation testing accomplished to date, the validated subsystem and system capabilities, and the plans for completion of this phase of NEXT development. The next round of competed planetary science mission announcements of opportunity, and directed mission decisions, are anticipated to occur in 2008 and 2009. Progress to date, and the success of on-going technology validation, indicate that the NEXT ion propulsion system will be a primary candidate for mission consideration in these upcoming opportunities.


    Zugriff

    Zugriff über TIB

    Verfügbarkeit in meiner Bibliothek prüfen


    Exportieren, teilen und zitieren



    Titel :

    Technology Readiness of the NEXT Ion Propulsion System


    Beteiligte:

    Kongress:

    IEEE Aerospace Conference ; 2008 ; Big Sky, MT, United States


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    2008-01-01


    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Konferenz)


    Format :

    Keine Angabe


    Sprache :

    Englisch




    Technology Readiness of the NEXT Ion Propulsion System

    S. W. Benson / M. J. Patterson | NTIS | 2008


    NEXT Ion Propulsion System Progress Towards Technology Readiness

    Benson, Scott / Patterson, Michael / Snyder, J. | AIAA | 2008


    Technology Readiness of the NEXT Ion Propulsion System

    Benson, Scott W. / Patterson, Michael J. | IEEE | 2008


    NEXT Ion Propulsion System Production Readiness

    Hoskins, Andrew / Aadland, Randall / Meckel, Nicole et al. | AIAA | 2007


    NEXT Ion Propulsion System Production Readiness AIAA Paper

    Hoskins, A. / Talerico, L. / Aadland, R. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2007