More than 60 years after the later Nobel laureate Hannes Alfvén had published a letter stating that oscillating magnetic fields can accelerate ionised matter via magneto‐hydrodynamic interactions in a wave like fashion, the technical implementation of Alfvén waves for propulsive purposes has been proposed, patented and examined for the first time by a group of inventors. The name of the concept is MOA—Magnetic field Oscillating Amplified thruster. Based on computer simulations, MOA is a highly flexible propulsion system, whose performance parameters might easily be adapted, by changing the mass flow and/or the power level. As such the system is capable to deliver a maximum specific impulse of 13116 s (12.87 mN) at a power level of 11.16 kW, using Xe as propellant, but can also be attuned to provide a thrust of 236.5 mN (2411 s) at 6.15 kW of power. While space propulsion is expected to be the prime application for MOA and is supported by numerous applications such as Solar and/or Nuclear Electric Propulsion or even as an ‘afterburner system’ for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion, other terrestrial applications can be thought of as well, making the system highly suited for a common space‐terrestrial application research and utilisation strategy. This paper presents the recent developments of the MOA Thruster R&D activities at QASAR (www.qasar.at), the company in Vienna, which has been set up to further develop and test the Alfvén wave technology and its applications.


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    Title :

    MOA—The Magnetic Field Amplified Thruster, a Novel Concept for a Pulsed Plasma Accelerator



    Conference:

    SPACE TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL FORUM‐STAIF 2008: 12th Conference on Thermophysics Applications in Microgravity; 1st Symposium on Space Resource Utilization; 25th Symposium on Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion; 6th Conference on Human/Robotic Technology and the Vision for Space Exploration; 6th Symposium on Space Colonization; 5th Symposium on New Frontiers and Future Concept ; 2008 ; Albuquerque (New Mexico)


    Published in:

    AIP Conference Proceedings ; 969 , 1 ; 518-525


    Publication date :

    2008-01-21


    Size :

    8 pages





    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



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