A Study of Test Techniques for Evaluating Ablative Plasma Engines in Vacuum Test Cells

摘要

The Teflon pulsed thruster is being considered as an attitude control and station-keeping device for spacecraft and satellites. In determining the compatibility of the pulsed plasma thruster with spacecraft systems, it is necessary to assess the potentially harmful effects the exhaust products may have on various spacecraft surfaces. Previous efforts to acquire data in space environmental chambers have had limited success due to the interferences caused by exhaust products scattering from the test facility walls and pumping panels. The overall objective of this effort is to define the operating characteristics of prototype pulsed plasma engine and a test facility configuration suitable for contamination-type tests. The immediate objectives of this report are: (1) to use a micropound and a millipound pulsed plasma engine to obtain information on the species in the plasma and how they react when they encounter the test chamber walls, and (2) to examine the effectiveness of possible diagnostic techniques; these include witness plates, electron multipliers, mass spectrometers, Faraday cups, attenuated total reflectance (ATR) plates, calorimeters, and UV spectroscopy. (Author)