Testing of the Qinetiq T6 Thruster in Support of the ESA BepiColombo Mercury Mission for the ESA BepiColombo Mission

Details Testing of the Qinetiq T6 Thruster in Support of the ESA BepiColombo Mercury Mission for the ESA BepiColombo Mission Testing of the Qinetiq T6 Thruster in Support of the ESA BepiColombo Mercury Mission for the ESA BepiColombo Mission

Oct 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004esasp.555e..70w&link_type=abstract

Proceedings of the 4th International Spacecraft Propulsion Conference (ESA SP-555). 2-9 June, 2004, Chia Laguna (Cagliari), Sard

Computer Science

Performance

Scientific paper

This paper presents the results of two test programmes. The first involved a series of simultaneous thruster firing tests performed at QinetiQ in the QinetiQ LEEP 2 (2nd Large European Electric Propulsion) vacuum test facility using 2 T6 thrusters operating between 50 and 230 mN at a specific impulse above 4500s. The test configuration allowed the simultaneous operation of 2 thrusters at a range of thrust levels and thruster spacings. The spacing between thrusters could be varied between 800 mm and 10 mm with the thrusters operating. One of the thrusters, designated the Primary, was suspended from a pendulum thrust balance and was aligned with a large diameter ion beam probe array. These diagnostics allowed the thrust to be directly measured and the ion beam plume to be characterised, allowing comparisons to be made between single and simultaneous operation at different thruster spacings. Testing was also performed with different combinations of neutralisers to determine the potential effects of dual thruster operation with a single neutraliser. The second series of tests involved the operation of a single T6 thruster at a thrust level of 208 mN at the elevated thermal conditions predicted for Mercury. Thermal and mechanical analyses of the T6 (including additional thrusters in close proximity) indicated the worst case thermal conditions occur when the thruster assembly was illuminated from the side, producing the most severe temperatures and thermal gradients across the thruster structure. A 500 hour test was performed in which thruster performance was assessed using electrical operating parameters, thrust balance and beam probe array measurements taken with the thruster operating at both nominal and simulated Mercury thermal conditions. The latter was produced using a metal collar equipped with electrical heaters, placed in close proximity to the thruster structure. The heater collar could be positioned and withdrawn without the need to vent the chamber and therefore the thermal environment could be varied with the thruster operating.

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