This video shows the VASIMR VX-200 during a 30 second firing of it's first stage, and a 15 second firing of it's second stage.
www.AdAstraRocket.com
The 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
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Looks like what was once science fiction is now science. Still decades away from actual application, but the fact that it works at all is astonishing.
coladict 4 days ago
after all these years dreaming... about all those science fiction stories... I might still have the chance to witness the first real spaceship leaving Earth. Even if it will be without warp technology...
If that occasion happens when I am living my last hours... only watching them through television or whatever kind of communication devices mankind will possess then... That would be the perfect death for me... the happiest hour in my entire life. Shall I live longer? Even better.
dphoenixx 2 months ago
@GangsterHutterite Very interesting comment for 1Gwatt,pls coonent referance or where to find out more info? Thanks
energyalt56 2 months ago
@GangsterHutterite That would be cool, but one step at a time. With changes in how we (as a species) view nuclear power, the VASIMR technology could bring humans to Mars in two months. That's pretty darn good.
quidproquo2004 2 months ago
If somebody could develop a decently small and light fusion reactor, you could get up to 1 Gigawatt of power. With enough hydrogen, you could fly to Mars in literally a week.
GangsterHutterite 3 months ago
@V3SuperStar
I believe you're taking him slightly too literally.
mkifyousayso 3 months ago
@TurboDally
Sadly, this has nothing to do with warp technology, which can already be created, but not on a human level because of the energy consumption involved in such a phenomena.
V3SuperStar 4 months ago
Genius, Its the second comming of space travel. My hats off to you fellows.
Big69Bull 4 months ago 2
What a beautiful light .
zadeh79 5 months ago 2
@SoCalFlya sorry for last explaination, I will try to explain it better. The key for a long long journey is DISNTANCE, and SPEED, analize this metafore. take your car and accelerate it in front of a wall. It wont move. Do it again but start accelerating a mile away from the wall, now probably you will destroy it easily. That happens with the ship in the way to, let's say mars, when it is protected by the magnetosphere it adquires an enourmous speed, so nothing in the space will be a barrier
Parico90 6 months ago