Earth To Orbit and In Space Propulsion Systems

Earth To Orbit and In Space Propulsion Systems: ION Drive Technology Jason Jayanty and Randy Parrilla Mentors: Dr. Siva Thangam and Professor Joseph Miles

Ion Drive Technology l l Ion Propulsion works by giving a positive charge to atoms inside the chamber using the shuttle’s solar panels, magnetically pulling them towards the rear of the ship, and then thrusting them out through repulsion. On the way out, electrons are also emitted from the shuttle so to re-neutralize those positively charge atoms and not cause damage to the surroundings.

Advancing ION Drive l l The Ionizing Chamber in an ION Drive system is composed of a radiation system. This system shoots out radiation (usually in the form of X-Rays and other invisible light) at the gas particles which in turn ionizes them into a positively charged atom and an electron. If we can make the radiation system smaller by having an even smaller energy creation source , that way we can provide for a more powerful x-ray while using the same or smaller amount of energy.

Advancing ION Drive (Cont) l l Another way to increase the strength of our ION Drive, we would need to increase the speed at which the X-Rays hit the particle (more speed means more kinetic energy – KE = ½MV 2). The Law of Conservation of Energy tells us that most of that energy will be transferred to the particles. Today’s particle accelerators are very large and use an immense amount of energy. We plan on using an X-Ray turbine like system for accelerating these particles because the LINAC is insanely large and would not fit in our shuttle.

Lithium Reactions for ION Drive l l Electric Propulsion & Plasma Dynamics Laboratory at Princeton University is involved in the fields of Electric and Advanced propulsion systems, plasma dynamics, astronautics, and space plasma physics Uses system similar to Ion Drive called Lorentz Force Accelerator Chemical reaction between Lithium and Hydrogen to create thrust (Lithium Hydroxide/Hydrogen/heat) We can use this as Hydro-Carbon like thrust as well as create ions for the ion drive technology.

Vehicle Designs Design #1 (X-33 Style) • Our first design is a simple, wide, and aerodynamic craft that would contain the ION Drive system at the rear of the craft. On top of the craft would be multiple solar panels that can be used to power the ion chamber. • This design would allow for us to carry a large amount of materials and payload as well as a higher number of people. This spacecraft is aerodynamic as to be able to fly in the Earth’s atmosphere at the speed of a regular commercial aircraft (approx 500 -600 MPH)

Vehicle Designs (cont) Design #2 (X-43 Style) • Our second design is a more streamlined spacecraft that is capable of traveling at supersonic speeds in the Earth’s atmosphere making this design more well rounded. The ION Drive system would be located at the bottom of the ship and the Hydrocarbon rockets (2 of them) would be located on either side of the ION Drive system. Solar panels would again be located on the top of the craft. • This design allows for more speed on Earth and makes it easier to break through the atmosphere. However, there would be less space for payload on this craft.

Tile System l l The shuttle’s tile system is an advancement on the original shell design. When the craft would re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, the entire shell would have to be removed and replaced. The tiles however are falling off because of improper gluing techniques and weak/melted adhesive. We plan on fixing the glue by creating a new form of the adhesive that can withstand higher temperatures as well as cooling the entire tile system.

Cooling System l l We would like to run liquid nitrogen around the shell of the shuttle (just beneath the tiles). The liquid nitrogen would be held in a container inside of the shuttle and upon launch and re-entry, the nitrogen would be released through porous into its system so to cool down the temperature of the tiles as well as the adhesive. This has already been tried before however we feel that we can further advance this technique and cool down the tiles and adhesive on the shuttle.

Our Plans for 2006 -2007 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Advance the ION Drive System Create a new tile system for the shuttle Find a method of cooling the tile system for the shuttle Construct a model of the hybrid design Enter our design into different competitions (held in Langley, VA)

Special Thanks Dr. Siva Thangam Prof. Joseph Miles Dr. Frank Scalzo Dr. Elizabeth Rudolph Stevens Institute of Technology NYCRI NASA NJSGC