Ion Thrusters: HDLT vs DS4G

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

manofsanATyahoo.com - 13 Jan 2006 03:23 GMT

Recently there have been announcements about new and improved ion
thrusters.

One of them was the Helicon Double Layer Ion Thruster, and the latest
one is the DS4G Thruster.

Each represents different improvements in ion thruster design. I would
like to ask -- are these respective improvements mutually exclusive, or
can they be combined together in complementary fashion for an even
greater performance boost?

Besides these, any other ion thruster improvements on the horizon?

Reply to this Message

Rémy MERCIER - 13 Jan 2006 15:17 GMT

manofsanATyahoo.com Wrote:

> Recently there have been announcements about new and improved ion
> thrusters.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Besides these, any other ion thruster improvements on the horizon?

These two ion thrusters are new and great improvements will come. I
think that a new helicon double-layer MULTI-STAGE is possible with
variable isp and variable thrust (like VASIMIR) and with so many other
advantages!!!...

"""Solid mass and urine, which is uric acid, is what the Space Station
has trouble getting rid of tons of. They have a Russian system that
presses this to get the water out of it, which is what people drink at
the ISS. But then you have to get rid of it, and it's got a PH level of
1, which means it's fairly vicious. But in our system (HDLT) you could
use that"""
Rémy

Signature

Rémy MERCIER

Reply to this Message

Nyrath - 16 Jan 2006 16:11 GMT

> Recently there have been announcements about new and improved ion
> thrusters.
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> can they be combined together in complementary fashion for an even
> greater performance boost?

    I dunno, they look pretty mutually exclusive to me.
    http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/propulsion/ultra_ion.htm

    One of the advantages with the DS4G is that the
    double grid reduces the severe grid erosion inherent
    in other ion drive designs.

Reply to this Message

manofsanATyahoo.com - 19 Jan 2006 08:45 GMT

Still, where's the power source going to come from? The ESA SMART-1
probe that went to the moon was solar-powered, if I'm not mistaken. So
if the tenfold improvement claim is correct, then that could mean that
a SMART-1 probe using DS4G could go to Mars, which is almost ten times
farther than the moon. But I guess solar energy drops off significantly
as you go out towards Mars, so that would be a problem.

And do solar panels really offer good power-to-mass ratio?

Gee, if only there were some good power source that fit the bill,
without the hazards of nuclear energy.

Reply to this Message

Space Forum / Space Flight / January 2006

Ion Thrusters: HDLT vs DS4G