Testing Begins for 12-Kilowatt Solar Electric Thrusters for Moon Mission
upstart writes:
More than twice the power of earlier electric propulsion thrusters:
Early testing has begun on a new solar electric propulsion (SEP) thruster system that will power a NASA satellite in orbit over the moon. The new thrusters are more than twice as powerful as earlier versions.
The Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) will provide 12 kilowatts of power per thruster compared to the four-and-a-half kilowatts used by prior SEPs. The boost should help NASA craft travel farther and faster. Compared to traditional chemical fuel, SEPs are much more efficient when performing low-level thrust, which gives NASA increased flexibility during the satellite's mission.
Called Gateway, the satellite is a critical component of NASA's Artemis lunar mission. The first stage was an unmanned flyby of the moon that NASA successfully carried out late last year. The next phase, Artemis II, will send a crew into orbit around the moon in May 2024.
Gateway will support the final phase, Artemis III, which aims to put the first humans on the moon's surface since the Apollo missions of the 1970s. The satellite will serve as a logistics hub for transporting science experiments, sample collection tools, and other cargo. Artemis will be only the first leg of Gateway's 15-year mission.
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