Topic
Arcjet rocket
About: Arcjet rocket is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1121 publications have been published within this topic receiving 9687 citations. The topic is also known as: Arcjet.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
More filters
•
23 Feb 19674 citations
••
01 Jun 1993TL;DR: The results of spectroscopic measurements on the exhaust plume from a 1 kW NASA Lewis arcjet operated on simulated ammonia were reported in this paper. But the results of the analysis were limited to the analysis of the Balmer lines of atomic hydrogen and the rotational bands of the NH radical.
Abstract: We report the results of spectroscopic measurements on the exhaust plume from a 1 kW NASA Lewis arcjet operated on simulated ammonia. In particular, we analyze emissions from the Balmer lines of atomic hydrogen and from one of the rotational bands of the NH radical. We find that exit plane temperatures are in the range 2000 to 3500 K, depending on the measurement method, and that the electron density upstream of the exit plane is on the order of 1.5 x 10 exp 14/cu cm as determined by the Stark width of the Balmer-alpha line. Also, we have determined that the average velocity of atomic hydrogen at the exit plane is about 4 km/sec, and that strong acceleration (to 5.5 km/sec) of the flow occurs just beyond the exit plane.
4 citations
••
01 Aug 1994TL;DR: A review of the NASA role in the development of hydrazine arcjets with a focus on approaches, lessons learned, and the future is presented in this article, where the authors present a review of NASA's role in development of arcjet propulsion systems.
Abstract: In 1984, the market for commercial geosynchronous communications satellites (comsats) was expanding and there was strong competition between spacecraft builders for market share. The propellant required for the north-south stationkeeping (NSSK) function was a major mission limiter, and the small chemical and resistojet systems then in use were at or near their physical limits. Thus, conditions were right for the development of a high performance NSSK system, and after an extensive survey of both propulsion technologies and the aerospace community, the NASA program chose hydrazine arcjets for development. A joint government/industry development program ensued which culminated in the acceptance of arcjet technology. NASA efforts included fundamental feasibility assessments, hardware development and verification, and multiple efforts aimed at the demonstration of critical operational characteristics of arcjet systems. Throughout the program, constant contact with the user community was maintained to determine system requirements. Both contracted and cooperative programs with industry were supported. First generation, kW-class arcjets are now operational for NSSK on the Telstar 401 satellite launched in December of 1993 and are baselined for use on multiple future satellite series (Intelsat 8, AsiaSat, Echostar). Arcjet development efforts are now focusing on the development of both high performance (600 s), 2 kW thrusters for application on next generation comsats and low power (Pe approximately 0.5 kW) for a variety of applications on power limited satellites. This paper presents a review of the NASA's role in the development of hydrazine arcjets with a focus on approaches, lessons learned, and the future.
4 citations
23 Dec 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, the development of arc root attachment in 1 kW class N2 and H2-N2 arcjetthrusters from the time of ignition to the stably working condition was analyzed.
Abstract: Arc root behavior affects the energy transfer and nozzle erosion in an arcjet thruster.
To investigate the development of arc root attachment in 1 kW class N2 and H2-N2 arcjet
thrusters from the time of ignition to the stably working condition, a kinetic series of end-on
view images of the nozzle obtained by a high-speed video camera was analyzed. The addition
of hydrogen leads to higher arc voltage levels and the determining factor for the mode of arc
root attachment was found to be the nozzle temperature. At lower nozzle temperatures, constricted
type attachment with unstable motions of the arc root was observed, while a fully diffused
and stable arc root was observed at elevated nozzle temperatures.
4 citations