Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Nov 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004aps..dpppm2016k&link_type=abstract
American Physical Society, 46th Annual Meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics, 15-19 November, 2004, Savannah, GA. MEETING I
Physics
Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Under the Project Prometheus Program, NASA is studying the feasibility of large, interplanetary spacecraft using nuclear reactors to provide electricity for multi-kilowatt ion thrusters. For these missions, such as the proposed Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO), ion thrusters will be required to operate for as long as 15 years, several times the longest demonstrated ion thruster life. In order to predict thruster life, a team of researchers at JPL is developing a suite of computer models that describe in two and three dimensions the dominant plasma processes that take place in electrostatic ion xenon thrusters. These models are being developed in close coordination with researchers who measure the plasma properties inside the thruster components. This paper reviews the physics contained in models of plasma generation and current flow in the hollow cathode insert region, discharge chamber ionization processes, grid ion optics, and thruster plumes including primary beam ions, ion-neutral scattering, and charge exchange.
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