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NASA ( GRC ) Collaborative Modeling For Parametric Assessment Of Space Design?

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In order to meet the 2029 deadline and reduce costs, this design will use primarily synergistic applications of NASA’s planned current investments. Additional propulsion stages may be required to decrease the time to Mars as to keep mission costs low and to make the crew not have too much exposure to radiation. Similarly, advanced physics and thermodynamics are unknown in the time of writing this and could potentially allow design flaws from the future design proposal.

To remain conservative, Glenn Research Center (GRC) Collaborative Modeling for Parametric Assessment of Space Systems (COMPASS) had chosen the first of two designs as it was the wider and heavier choice of the two options12. This design similarly will continue to be assumed …show more content…

It was previously stated that “solar electric propulsion provides such high fuel economy that it reduces the amount of propellant required onboard vehicles for deep-space missions by as much as 90 percent”18. With this statement, alternate ions and configurations have been extensively researched and compared to find the best alternative solution.
One alternative possibility that could be strong considered is Pulsed Lorentz Force Acceleration (PLFA). As a part of this propulsion there is a Lithium Lorentz Force Accelerator (LiLFA) Thruster, which has been proven by research with a power of 500kW to generate a specific impulse (I_sp) of 4000 and an efficiency of 60%18, 19. These characteristics were recorded and demonstrated by V. P. Ageyev, V. G. Ostrovsky, and V. A. Petrosov with the LiLFA engine “operating in this mode uninterruptedly about 500 hours”20 in Russia in 1993. NASA has concurred similar characteristics of Pulsed Lorentz Force Acceleration (PLFA) propulsion system which is described to combine “design elements of the Lithium Lorentz Force Accelerator”21 in addition to quasi-steady Magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters and pulsed plasma thrusters. In the same article, the PLFA is described to achieve a specific impulse of 4800, an efficiency of 60%, max power of 12.5 kW, and a max thrust of 365 mN21. This thruster uses less power than the Xenon thruster in

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