VASIMR at Full Power

This video shows the startup of the VASIMR 1st stage over 5 seconds, the increasing power of the second stage over 3 seconds, a plateau of full power operation for 5 seconds, and then rocket shut down. The VX-200 is operating in a 150 cubic meter vacuum chamber, used to simulate the vacuum of space.


Ad Astra Rocket Companys VASIMR® VX-200 rocket prototype reached its highly-coveted 200 kW maximum power milestone at 11:59 am (CST) September 30th 2009 in tests conducted at the companys Houston laboratory. The DC power trace actually exceeded the design requirement by 1 kW and exhibited the clear signature of a well established plateau at peak power. The achievement comes after an intense experimental campaign that began in April 2009 when the engine was fitted with a powerful low temperature superconducting magnet, a critical component that enables VASIMR® to process large amounts of plasma power. The electrical power processing is accomplished using high efficiency, 95%, solid state RF generators built by Nautel Ltd of Halifax, Canada. Demonstration of a 200 kW capability was required to validate, with full scale performance data, the design of the VF-200-1 already underway. The VX-200 turns out to exceed the expected power density of VF-200-1 by about 25%, so this is a robust demonstration of the technology. The VF-200-1 is the first engine that the company plans to fly in space, and it is presently working with NASA to effectuate inspace testing in late 2013 on the International Space Station (ISS).

The total power processed by the engine is distributed between its two electromagnetic stages. The first, tested last July at its full 32 kW power rating, generates the plasma from Argon feedstock gas, while the second energizes it to the desired output conditions. At maximum power, the second stage contributes an additional 168 kW to complete the 200 kW power rating. The 200 kW test is, in effect, a validation of the VASIMR® second stage design, a hitherto untested element of the engine at these tremendous power levels, said Dr. Jared P. Squire, Ad Astras Director of Research and leader of the experimental team conducting the tests. Preliminary data indicate a better than expected power coupling, leading to slightly less thermal stress than originally predicted. These findings will continue to be verified, but the indications point to operation well within the chosen design specifications he said.

Short for Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket, VASIMR® is a new high-power plasma-based space propulsion technology, initially studied by NASA and now being developed privately by Ad Astra. A VASIMR® engine could transport payloads in space far more efficiently and economically than todays chemical rockets. The company envisions an early commercial deployment of the technology, beginning in 2014, to greatly reduce the operational costs of maintaining an evolving space infrastructure, including space stations, satellites, lunar outposts and fuel depots in the Earth-Moon environment. Ultimately, VASIMR® engines could also greatly shorten robotic and human transit times for missions to Mars and beyond.

THE TECHNOLOGY
The VASIMR® engine works with plasma, a very hot gas, at temperatures close to the interior of the Sun. Plasmas are electrically charged fluids that can be heated to extreme temperatures by radio waves and controlled and guided by strong magnetic fields. The magnetic field also insulates any nearby structure, so temperatures well beyond the melting point of materials can be achieved and the resulting plasma can be harnessed to produce propulsion. In rocket propulsion, the higher the temperature of the exhaust gases, the higher their velocity and hence the higher their fuel efficiency. Plasma rockets feature exhaust velocities far above those achievable by their chemical cousins, so their fuel consumption is extremely low and their fuel-related costs substantially reduced.

ABOUT AD ASTRA
Ad Astra Rocket Company is a privately-owned corporation established January 14, 2005 to commercialize the technology of the VASIMR® engine, a plasma propulsion system originally studied by NASA with potential to support an emerging in-space transportation market. The company has its main laboratory and corporate headquarters at 141 W. Bay Area Boulevard in Webster, Texas, USA. Ad Astra also owns and operates Ad Astra Rocket Company, Costa Rica, a supporting research and development subsidiary in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

www.AdAstraRocket.com

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• VASIMR
• Ad
• Astra
• Rocket
• Company
• Astronaut
• Dr
• Franklin
• Chang
• Diaz
• ISS
• NASA
• Houston
• space
• station
• ion
• propulsion
• engine
• thruster
• argon
• xenon
• prototype
• international
• costa
• rica
• espaceplasma
• super
• sonic
• nozzle
• magnetic
• 200
• kw
• 200kw
• record
• RF
• radio
• frequency
• solidstate
• solid
• state
• nautel
• superconducting
• propellant
• accelerated
• MHD
• magnetohydrodynamics
• variable
• specific
• impulse
• magnetoplasma
• booster
• coupler
• power
• robert
• zubrin
• mars
• society
• hoax

[6wanted9]

a spacecraft with this propulsion take 39 days to mars. i see in history channel.

[AgrivatedKillah]

@quangluu96 That's a long ways off.

[quangluu96]

Anti matter engine, our future to go at 1mill mile per hours :D, go from earth to mars within days instead of months

[Realfoxhawk]

@royalbrainwave Yep - but your big flashlight will never take cut the flight time to Mars down to thirty days! Will be a massive step forward when operational.

[royalbrainwave]

My big flashlight has a beam like that too.

[TheLogicisking]

@GangsterHutterite This is not made for use in an atmosphere. It is to be used in space. If it could work in an atmosphere(I do not know if it can) it would use far to much power.

[TheLogicisking]

@RICKADDSITE Not exactly. This is an Ion rocket.

[UnTiedMusicStudio]

You can ballpark thrust at 50lbs to the megawatt, so 200KW is about 10 lbs. Ad Astra has never - that I've seen - given an ISP (which is essentially an efficiency calculation) for the VASIMR.

This is NOT related to NERVA, ROVER, or KIWI nuclear thermal engines. Those engines used liquid hydrogen heated by a system of highly enriched uranium to product thrust in the 1,100 MW range, or about 75,000lbs of thrust. So while the VASIMR is more effecient - by far - the thrust difference is huge.

[RICKADDSITE]

Is this related to Projects NERVA and Saturn S-N?

[TheC1c2c3c4c]

direct your exhaust better thats got way to much spread NASA!