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VASIMR: The Future of Space Travel (?)

VASIMR: The Future of Space Travel (?). Kevin Blondino 8 October 2012. What is VASIMR?. VA riable S pecific I mpulse M agnetoplasma R ocket – electric propulsion system using accelerated plasma with a magnetic field.

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VASIMR: The Future of Space Travel (?)

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  1. VASIMR: The Future of Space Travel (?) Kevin Blondino 8 October 2012

  2. What is VASIMR? • VAriable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket – electric propulsion system using accelerated plasma with a magnetic field. • Uses radio waves to ionize and further heat Argon (or Xenon, or Hydrogen) • Low thrust-to-weight ratio • Developed by Ad Astra Rocket Company

  3. Possible Uses • Deep space travel/robotic missions (not for leaving Earth’s orbit) • Lunar cargo transport from low-Earth orbit • Drag compensation for space stations • In-space refueling • Satellite maintenance, refueling, and repositioning

  4. Who is this?

  5. History • Development started 1977 in his Ph.D. with magnetic mirrors • First experiment in 1983 at MIT • Moved to Houston in 1995 • Ad Astra Rocket Company incorporated and partnership with NASA in 2005 • Subsidiary in Liberia, Guanacaste, Costa Rica in 2006 • Testing of VF-200 will occur on the ISS in 2015

  6. Design

  7. to ~6000 K

  8. Current and Past Models • VX-10: 10 kW thruster tested in 1998 • VX-25: 25 kW in 2002 • VX-50: 50 kW also in 2002 • VX-100: 100 kW in 2007 • VX-200: 200 kW single-thruster • VF-200: 2 100 kW thrusters with opposing magnetic field.

  9. VX-200 Operating at full power with argon propellant at about 50 km/s exhaust velocity.

  10. Sense of Scale

  11. VF-200 Conceptual mock-up Two 100 kW thrusters with opposing magnetic fields. This makes a zero-torque magnetic quadrapole in order to not interact with the Earth’s magnetic field.

  12. A 2MW solar powered lunar tug concept using 4 VASIMR engines.

  13. Pros • Much lower fuel consumption and cost • Higher efficiency than chemical propulsion • No use of electrodes • Almost no moving parts • Very durable, and thus reusable • Highly scalable

  14. Cons • Requires superconducting magnets (low temperature) • This requires low temperature cooling • Such a strong magnetic field could interfere with other equipment, and could cause torque (single thruster design). • Large power requirement • i.e. lots of waste heat that must be directed away • External source may be needed • Solar for near-Earth missions • Nuclear

  15. References [1] http://www.adastrarocket.com/aarc/VASIMR [2] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/plasma-rockets.html [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Chang_Díaz [4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VASIMR [5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4jf2F3YEAI

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