As part of the assignment for the course Propulsion 2, a presentation was given on an overview of advanced propulsion systems. The presentation specifically focused on electric propulsion systems, including ion propulsion. It also covered the Dawn Mission and the MIT Ion Propulsion Glider.

1. Advance Propulsion
Ion Plane
Glider
Ion propulsion
Dawn Mission

2. Key Mission Events:
• 2007— Launch(September)
• 2009—Mars GravityAssist
(February)
• 2011— VestaArrival(July)
• 2012 —VestaDeparture(September)
• 2015 —CeresArrival(March)
• 2016— End of primemission(June)
• 2016— Startof firstextension(July)
• 2017 —Startof second extension
(November)
• 2018— End of mission (October)
Key statistics from the end of
mission:
• 51,385 hours of ion enginethrusting.
• 172 GB of science datacollected.
• 3,052 orbitsaround Vestaand Ceres.
• 100,000imagestaken.
• 4.3+billion miles(6.9+billion
kilometers)traveledsincelaunch.
• 367+million miles (591+million
kilometers):Farthestdistancefrom
Earth.

3. • An ion thruster ionizes propellant by adding
or removing electrons to produce ions.
• Most thrusters ionize propellant by electron
bombardment: a high-energy electron
(negative charge) collides with a propellant
atom (neutral charge), releasing electrons
from the propellant atom and resulting in a
positively charged ion.
• The gas produced consists of positive ions
and negative electrons in proportions that
result in no over-all electric charge. This is
called a plasma.
• Plasma has some of the properties of a gas, but
it is affected by electric and magnetic fields.
Common examples are lightning and the
substance inside fluorescent light bulbs.
• Gases like Xenon used as fuel.
• X3 hall thruster produce 5.4 newton thrust.

4. “This is the first-ever sustained flight of a
plane with no moving parts in the
propulsion system”.
• MIT engineershavebuiltandflown thefirst-ever
plane withno movingparts.Insteadof propellers
or turbines,thelightaircraftispoweredbyan
“ionic wind”
• Barrettsaystheinspirationfortheteam’sion plane
comes partlyfromthemovieand televisionseries,
“StarTrek,”whichhe watchedavidlyasa kid. He
was particularlydrawntothefuturistic
shuttlecraftsthateffortlesslyskimmedthroughthe
air,withseeminglynomovingpartsand hardlyany
noise or exhaust.
• Aboutnine yearsago,Barrettstartedlookingfor
waystodesigna propulsion systemforplaneswith
no movingparts.Heeventuallycameupon “ionic
wind,”also known as electroaerodynamicthrust.

5. • A physical principle that was first identified in the 1920s and describes a wind, or
thrust, that can be produced when acurrent is passedbetween a thin and a thick
electrode. If enough voltage is applied, the air in between the electrodes can
produce enough thrust to propel a small aircraft.
• The final design resembles a large, lightweight glider. The aircraft, which weighs
about 2.45-kilogram (5 pounds) and hasa 5-meter wingspan, carries an array of thin
wires, which are strung like horizontal fencing along and beneath the front end of
the plane’s wing.

6. The wires act as positively charged
electrodes, while similarly arranged
thicker wires, running along the back end
of the plane’s wing, serve as negative
electrodes.
The fuselage of the plane holds astack of lithium-
polymer batteries.Prof. David Perreault designed a
power supply that would convert the batteries output to
a sufficiently high voltage to propel the plane. In this
way, the batteries supply electricity at 40,000 volts to
positively charge the wires viaa lightweight power
converter.

7. • The electric field created between these throws
the ions from asmaller electrode over to a larger
one.
• These ions collide with normal air molecules while
traveling, creating the ionicwind and pushing the
plane forward. The air molecules that are left
behind are newly ionized, and are in turn
attracted to the negatively charged electrodes at
the back of the plane.
• The ions are moving between two stationary
electrodes, no moving parts are required to power
the plane.
• As the newly formed cloud of ions flows toward
the negatively charged wires, each ion collides
millions of times with other air molecules,
creating a thrust that propels the aircraft forward.

8. Undistorted camera footage from unpowered glide 2, with position and eneDrgy from camera tracking annotated. Credit: Steven
Barrett
Undistorted camera footage from flight 9, with position and energy from camera tracking annotated. Sped up 2x. Credit: Steven Barrett