Thruster

PEPL MPD (Magnetoplasmadynamic) Thruster

Photograph of PEPL’s MPD thruster on display.

Developed
?

Tested at PEPL
1993

Developer
PEPL

This applied-field pulsed MPD thruster was provided by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and is based on Prof. Gallimore’s graduate work at Princeton. The thruster was tested at PEPL in a collaboration project with NASA Lewis Research Center (now GRC). The goal of the project was to study the suitability of the MPD thruster for 10-kW class solar electric orbit transfer vehicle (SEOTV) missions.

Selected Publications

  • Performance of the H9 Magnetically Shielded Hall Thrusters

    Cusson, S. E., Hofer, R. R., Lobbia, R. B., Jorns, B. A., and Gallimore, A. D.

    35th International Electric Propulsion Conference, Atlanta,GA, IEPC-2017-239, 2017

  • The H9 Magnetically Shielded Hall Thruster

    Hofer, R.R., Cusson, S.E., Lobbia, R.B., and Gallimore, A.D.

    35th International Electric Propulsion Conference, Atlanta,GA, IEPC-2017-232, 2017

  • Dispersion relation measurements of plasma modes in the near-field plume of a 9-kW magnetically shielded thruster

    Brown, Z. A., and Jorns, B. A.

    35th International Electric Propulsion Conference, Atlanta, GA, IEPC-2017-387, 2017

  • Experimental Evidence for Ion Acoustic Solitons in the Plume of a Hollow Cathode

    Georgin, M.P., Jorns, B.A., and Gallimore, A.D.

    2nd Space Propulsion Conference, Sevilla, Spain, SPC18-403, May 14-18, 2018

  • Ion Acoustic Turbulence in the Hollow Cathode Plume of a Hall Effect Thruster

    Cusson, S.E., Brown., Z, Dale, E.T., Jorns, B.A., and Gallimore, A.D.

    54th AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, AIAA-2018-4509, July 9-11, 2018

  • Non-Invasive Characterization of the Ionization Region of a Hall Effect Thruster

    Dale, E.T. and Jorns, B.A.

    54th AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, AIAA-2018-4508, July 9-11, 2018

  • Spatial Evolution of Plasma Waves in the Near-field of a Magnetically Shielded Hall Thruster

    Brown, Z. and Jorns, B.A.

    54th AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, AIAA-2018-4423, July 9-11, 2018

  • Impact of Neutral Density on the Magnetic Shielding of Hall Thrusters

    Cusson, S.E., Jorns, B.A., and Gallimore, A.D.

    36th International Electric Propulsion Conference, Vienna, Austria, IEPC-2019-276, 2019

  • Two-zone Hall thruster breathing mode mechanism, Part II: Experiment

    Dale, E.T., and Jorns, B.A.

    36th International Electric Propulsion Conference, Vienna, Austria, IEPC-2019-352, 2019

  • Experimental Correlation between Anomalous Electron Collision Frequency and Plasma Turbulence in a Hall Effect Thruster

    Brown, Z.A, Dale, E., and Jorns, B.A.

    36th International Electric Propulsion Conference, Vienna, Austria, IEPC-2019-843, 2019

  • Non-invasive in situ measurement of the near-wall ion kinetic energy in a magnetically shielded Hall thruster

    Cusson, Sarah E.

    Plasma Sources Science and Technology, Vol. 28 No. 10, 21 October 2019

  • Performance of a 9-kW Magnetically-Shielded Hall Thruster with Krypton

    Leanne L. Su , Alexander R. Vazsonyi and Benjamin Jorns

    VIRTUAL, https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/6.2020-3617, August 17, 2020

  • Performance Comparison of a 9-kW Magnetically-Shielded Hall Thruster Operating on Xenon and Krypton

    Leanne L. Su and Benjamin A. Jorns

    Journal of Applied Physics, https://pepl.engin.umich.edu/pdf/2021_JoAP_Su.pdf, October 7, 2021