[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] NASA thrusters

[jjrudy1 at comcast.net]

I just read this 3 times and still don't understand it.  Of course there is
a sentence in the middle that reminds me of my high school teacher's "the
proof will be left to the reader".

John

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Sci-fi propulsion is now a reality

David Oh, chief engineer for operations at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
says this will be the first-ever mission to use Hall Effect thrusters in
interplanetary space. What does that mean? Well basically, Hall Effect
thrusters use electricity to ionize xenon gas - ionization refers to
removing or adding one or two electrons from the atoms that make up a
substance. In this case, the substance is a gas. 

Upon ionization, those atoms gain a charge. (Regular old atoms have neutral
charges because their positive proton count and negative electron count are
equal. Remove some electrons, for instance, and you lose some negativity.)
The result? Ions. Then, those charged ions form an electric field which can,
through a series of complicated steps, propel an object. In this case,
that's the Psyche spacecraft. 

"They come out of the thruster going at 15 kilometers per second, or nine
miles per second," Oh said. "That's five times faster than the speed of the
fuel coming out of a regular chemical rocket."

 

 

John Rudy

 

781-861-0402

781-718-8334  cell

13 Hawthorne Lane

Bedford MA

jjrudy1 at comcast.net <mailto:jjrudy1 at comcast.net> 



 

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