Will an electrical propulsion system work in a spaceship 

Can a rocket run on electrical propulsion and how does it operate? 

Thesis: Can an electrical propulsion system work in rockets for space missions 

Our question is "Will an electrical propulsion system work in a spaceship?" How we researched this question by first gathering information about missions that used electrical propulsion systems and found out their purpose and any other useful information. 

 

Then we had to figure out the science of the thrusters used to power an EPS, there are two types: the Hall Thruster and the Ion Thruster. At first, we used articles from NASA but they were somewhat difficult to understand so we switched to YouTube and found much simpler but detailed videos. At first, we searched a broader question: How does an Electrical Propulsion System work? Then after finding difficult articles, we switched up our question to, How does an Ion/ Hall Thruster Work? From this research, we added more ideas like The environmental impact of Ion Thrusters and why they are better for the Earth.

Background Research: 

Electrical fields accelerate the propellant ionized by ion thrusters. In ion thrusters, the ions are produced by a plasma source and then accelerated between the two girds. The voltage applied between the two grids creates a vacuum electric field between the grids of the voltage divided by the gap.   

• Electric propulsion uses energy collected by solar arrays or nuclear reactors to thrust it forward
• This gets rid of the need to store propellant and duel on board 
• The solar power is then used to ionize the gas propellants like Krtpon or Xenon
• Then a combination of electric and magnetic fields pushes the ions out of the thrusters making the spacecraft move forward at tremendous speeds

Examples: 

1. There have been missions that are run with ion thrusters which are a form of spacecraft electrical propulsion.
2. In fact, as of 2019, more than 500 spacecraft have operated on electrical propulsion for station-keeping as they travel through the Solar System
3. NASA DAWN mission was powered by an ion thruster and  it lasted way longer than any chemical rocket would, it went to orbit the asteroid Tertus and left its orbit to monitor the neighbouring asteroid
4. NASA’s first mission into space with the ion thruster was Deep Space One which was the original mission with its continuation DAWN. NASA had been testing EPS for years before but didn’t want to risk it by investing in a real mission, so they decided to combine a bunch of new technologies they were developing into this mission. The purpose of the mission was to orbit asteroid 9969 Braille and Comet Borelly

Types of Electric Propulsion Systems: 

• Ion Thrusters: Examples include Hall-effect thrusters and gridded ion thrusters. They ionize propellant and accelerate the ions to produce thrust.
• VASIMR (Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket): It uses magnetic fields to accelerate plasma generated from ionized propellant.

Environmental Impact:

The environmental impact of electric propulsion can be considered relatively favourable for several reasons:

• Electric propulsion systems are more fuel-efficient because they can go a farther duration in deep space missions

 

Definition of Thrust - Since the spaceship’s mass changed over time due to the amount of propellant used, the thrust is the time rate of change of momentum which can be written as. 
 

Main Research: 

How does a Hall Thruster work? 

• Hall thrusters are mainly composed of three things: a discharge channel, an Anode, and a hollow Cathode that looks like a tube
• The Anode and Cathode are connected
• To start up the thruster a voltage is applied between the Anode and Cathode
• This voltage creates an electric field that causes electrons from the Cathode to move toward the Anode which makes a full circuit
• Some electromagnets are in the thrusters that form electromagnetic fields 90 degrees away from the electric field in the circuit
• Electrons are known for going around magnetic fields and this magnetic field acts as a waterwheel and accelerates the electrons to speeds going past 1,000,000 miles per hour
• The circular current of electrons rotating around the discharge channel is called a hall current which is why this machine is called a hall thruster  

How does an Ion thruster work?

• When talking about ion thrusters it is important to consider the velocity in rocket equations, chemical rockets can emit gases out the back at nearly 5km/s but ion rockets can emit single atoms out the back at 90 km/s and this velocity gives the spaceship a more efficient acceleration
• Ion engines are also more efficient than chemicals with an efficiency of 90% while chemicals only have 30%
• The circular current of electrons rotating around the discharge channel is called a hall current which is why this machine is called a hall thruster 
•  
• Ion thrusters eject ions( which are groups or singular atoms)  that have a positive or negative electrical charge because they’ve lost or gained an atom
• The ion engine emits positively charged ions that have lost an ion, once the ions are emitted they are directed by a magnetic field with propels them out of the craft at high speeds
• How are the ions generated? The electrons are held in the thruster to repeat the same process 
• A lot of ion thruster spacecraft run on solar power and this minimizes the weight on the spacecraft  
•  The thrusters generate plasma inside the rocket and then the rocket emits neutral atoms and electrons in the gridded ion thruster that cause collisions that create positively charged ions.
• Ion thrusters eject ions( which are groups or singular atoms)  that have a positive or negative electrical charge because they’ve lost or gained an atom
• The ion engine emits positively charged ions that have lost an ion, once the ions are emitted they are directed by a magnetic field that propels them out of the craft at high speeds. This is the process of ionization
• The electrons are held in the thruster to repeat the same process
• A lot of ion thruster spacecraft run on solar power and this minimizes the weight on the spacecraft
•  

Benefits of Ion Thrusters specifically: 

( Remember that a Hall Thruster is a type of Ion Thruster)

• In general ion thrusters are more efficient than chemical rockets, this is because of longer accelerations that allow for higher velocities which can make the spacecraft run for longer in a short amount of time which is good for deep space missions
• Ion engines are also more efficient than chemicals with an efficiency of 90% while chemicals only have 30%
• Ion thrusters also require a low amount of propellant which allows for more space for payloads. It can also reduce the amount of money spent on launching the spacecraft
• Ion thrusters have efficient longevity because of the reduced propellant carried which can result in longer or extended space missions
• Since Ion thrusters don’t have the same amount of velocity as chemical rockets they can equip them with higher precision control for missions like orbit insertion and landings on other celestial bodies which is a very big difference in the success and failure of a mission
• EPS emits ions at speeds higher rate than chemical rockets. This means lower fuel is being used in the amount of thrust which could reduce the environmental impact
• Some EPS  can be solar powered which reduces the need for fossil fuels\
• They also release no emission upon use

Disadvantages of Ion thrusters 

• One of the biggest issues with ion thrusters is that they provide a very low velocity and thrust in comparison to chemical rockets which makes them unsuitable for time-sensitive missions.  
• Another strong disadvantage is the amount of electrical power that is required for these thrusters to operate. This means that solar panels and other sources need to be developed which could limit missions that are too far from the Sun. 
• Ion Thrusters are more complex to engineer and manufacture than normal chemical propulsion
• Ion thrusters are inappropriate for Earth launches which limits their use to certain types of missions 

 

 

Types of Electric Propulsion Systems: 

• Electric propulsion uses energy collected by solar arrays or nuclear reactors to thrust it forward
• This gets rid of the need to store propellant and duel on board 
• The solar power is then used to ionize the gas propellants like Krtpon or Xenon
• Then a combination of electric and magnetic fields pushes the ions out of the thrusters making the spacecraft move forward at trenmondous speeds
• Ion Thrusters: Examples include Hall-effect thrusters and gridded ion thrusters. They ionize propellant and accelerate the ions to produce thrust.

 

• VASIMR (Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket): It uses magnetic fields to accelerate plasma generated from ionized propellant.

3. Environmental Impact:

The environmental impact of electric propulsion can be considered relatively favorable for several reasons:

• Electric propulsions systems are more fuel-effiecent because of the fact that they can go farther 
• EPS emit ions at speeds higher  rate than chemical rockets. This means lower fuel is being used in the amount of thrust which could reduce enviormental impact
• Some EPS  can be solar powered which reduce need for fossil fuels\
• They also release no emission upon use

In conclusion, the answer to our thesis was Yes, Electrical Propulsion can run in spaceships. Our research went smoothly with only a few errors with writing citations and making sure everything was cited properly. We can apply our research and thesis to the world by further exploring more ways to make Electrical Propulsion more efficient than normal chemical propulsion. We can also make 3d models print what these new thrusters will look like. This type of science could do very good jobs in the future and help us make other planets our new home.

https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/SciTechBook/series1/Goebel__cmprsd_opt.pdf   

 

 

Works Cited

Cain, Fraser. How Do Ion Engines Work? The Most Efficient Propulsion System Out There. Good news, there are other, exotic science fiction-sounding propulsion systems out there which use electromagnetic fields to accelerate atoms, allowing their spacecraft to accelerate for months at a time. 15 May 2018. YouTube, Fraser Cain, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H0qsqZjLW0&t=312s. Accessed 5 February 2024.

Devi, Kalpana. “Unleashing the Power of Ion Propulsion: The Future of Space Travel.” LinkedIn, 20 October 2023, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unleashing-power-ion-propulsion-future-space-travel-kalpanadevi-p-guikc. Accessed 14 March 2024.

Marton, L. “Fundamentals of Electric Propulsion: Ion and Hall Thrusters.” DESCANSO, https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/SciTechBook/series1/Goebel__cmprsd_opt.pdf. Accessed 15 March 2024.

UMich PEPL. How Hall thrusters work (and why we can't simulate them). March 2023. YouTube, UMich PEPL, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAfjmGMp43w. Accessed 5 February 2024.

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAfjmGMp43w 

We would like to acknowledge our parents for helping us through this process and guiding us. We also want to thank all of the sources that we cited and the videos for allowing us to use them and most of all we want to thank God.