The design and feasibility of a 10 mN chemical space propulsion thruster

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2009.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-108).This thesis discusses the design of a ten milli Newton chemical propulsion system for providing approximately 200 m/s delta velocity to a five kg satellite. The nozzle is the focus of the experimental work, which involves building and testing ten 20x upscale 2D nozzles. The ten nozzles involve three classes, an ideal contour for 2D expansion, a 15 degree cone, and the ideal contour widened for the displacement thickness, each cut to 25%, 50% and 100% axial lengths. The last nozzle is a 100% axial length, ideal contour class, that is twice the thickness to see the effect of end wall boundary layer growth. The nozzles are tested in the MIT Space Propulsions Lab's vacuum chamber at sub atmospheric chamber pressures to match the throat Reynolds number with the micro nozzles. For the purposes of this specific design the Reynolds number is on the order of a 1,000; however, tests are done over a range of 200-1,400 to provide additional data to the community. The nozzle's coefficient of thrust efficiency is approximately 80% for Reynolds numbers greater than a 1,000 and the data suggest the efficiency drops below 50% at 200. The error becomes significant at low Reynolds number due to pressure measurement error, which reduces the quality of the results. The entire system is compared to the state-of-the-art in milli Newton class space propulsion systems and recommendations are given for propellant choice, valve and pump designs, and thermal management. For small delta velocity missions ( 200 m/s), a monopropellant chemical propulsion system is advantageous to current electric propulsion and cold gas thrusters due to the low system mass.by Alexander Robert Bruccoleri.S.M

Development and Short-Range Testing of a 100 kW Side-Illuminated Millimeter-Wave Thermal Rocket

The objective of the phase described here of the Millimeter-Wave Thermal Launch System (MTLS) Project was to launch a small thermal rocket into the air using millimeter waves. The preliminary results of the first MTLS flight vehicle launches are presented in this work. The design and construction of a small thermal rocket with a planar ceramic heat exchanger mounted along the axis of the rocket is described. The heat exchanger was illuminated from the side by a millimeter-wave beam and fed propellant from above via a small tank containing high pressure argon or nitrogen. Short-range tests where the rocket was launched, tracked, and heated with the beam are described. The rockets were approximately 1.5 meters in length and 65 millimeters in diameter, with a liftoff mass of 1.8 kilograms. The rocket airframes were coated in aluminum and had a parachute recovery system activated via a timer and Pyrodex. At the rocket heat exchanger, the beam distance was 40 meters with a peak power intensity of 77 watts per square centimeter. and a total power of 32 kilowatts in a 30 centimeter diameter circle. An altitude of approximately 10 meters was achieved. Recommendations for improvements are discussed

The Marshall Grazing Incidence X-Ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS)

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On the Alignment and Focusing of the Marshall Grazing Incidence X-Ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS)

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The First Flight of the Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS)

The Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS) sounding rocket experiment launched on July 30, 2021 from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. MaGIXS is a unique solar observing telescope developed to capture X-ray spectral images, in the 6 - 24 Angstrom wavelength range, of coronal active regions. Its novel design takes advantage of recent technological advances related to fabricating and optimizing X-ray optical systems as well as breakthroughs in inversion methodologies necessary to create spectrally pure maps from overlapping spectral images. MaGIXS is the first instrument of its kind to provide spatially resolved soft X-ray spectra across a wide field of view. The plasma diagnostics available in this spectral regime make this instrument a powerful tool for probing solar coronal heating. This paper presents details from the first MaGIXS flight, the captured observations, the data processing and inversion techniques, and the first science results.Comment: 20 pages, 18 figure

Marshall Grazing Incidence

No abstract availabl