Research teams at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) are eyeing revolutionary propulsion ideas that could propel humans to the outer planets.

Show here is the Plasmoid Thruster Experiment (PTX) – being evaluated at UAH’s Propulsion Research Center. The purpose of the PTX is to investigate the fundamental plasma and acceleration properties of a small-scale, pulsed plasma thruster.

The PTX was originally built at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center also in Huntsville. That NASA field center donated the equipment to UAH last year.

One of the biggest challenges in any electric propulsion concept is increasing the lifetime of the thruster, which must run continuously for several years for deep space missions.

Most electric propulsion concepts use plasma, which is in contact with electrodes or acceleration grids. That causes erosion of components and limits the lifetime of the thruster.

The plasmoid thruster potentially has a much longer lifetime, because the plasma is formed inductively, which means that the plasma is not in contact with the thruster components.

Researchers on the PTX are focused on improving plasma acceleration and thrust – small steps that could yield a big payoff for deep space travel.

·         Research Warps into Hyperdrive

·         ‘Antigravity’ Propulsion System Proposed

-- Leonard David

Credit: UAH