Will NASA Test a Plasma Drive on the ISS?

One of the biggest problems facing the possibility of interplanetary journeys is the lack of a proper propulsion system. The booster rockets we use to get off the surface of the planet are all good and well, but they are just there to get a heavy load through Earth’s gravity and in to space. Once in space, for example, the Shuttle takes over. But the Shuttle’s propulsion systems aren’t up to getting astronauts anywhere near Mars – at least, while they’re still alive.

So NASA is obviously looking for the next form of space propulsion, and at the Air Venture show in Oshkosh on July 29, US space agency's administrator Michael Griffin spoke about the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR).

VASIMR is an electro-thermal thruster for spacecraft already in space; it is no good for getting us off the planet due to its low thrust to weight ratio. But within a vacuum, VASIMR is capable of producing specific impulses anywhere between 3,000 to 30,000 seconds. This equates to jet velocities of between 30 and 300 kilometers a second. Comparably, using the same measuring stick as the VASIMR, the current Shuttle engines are capable of generating specific impulses of 453 seconds in vacuum, which equates to 4.5 kilometers a second.Naturally, because the Shuttle has to deal with getting out of Earth’s gravity as well as maneuvering in a relatively close Earth orbit, its priorities are not so much on the greater speeds but a higher thrust to weight ratio.

A plasma engine such as the VASIMR uses radio waves to ionize a propellant, and magnetic fields to accelerate or decelerate the resulting plasma to generate thrust. The VASIMR injects a gas such as hydrogen in to an engine that turns it in to plasma. The radio waves are now used to energize the plasma further as it moves through the engine. The plasma, now accelerated and heated, is focused and directed as exhaust using a magnetic nozzle.

As a result, VASIMR uses much less fuel  and is much more efficient than conventional chemical rockets.

According to Michael Griffin, the next step in testing VASIMR will be to see it brought to the International Space Station using a scale-model test engine. I’m not sure if that means that NASA will use the scaled down model to move the station, or if the experiments will simply be based at the ISS. But Griffin is unsure or simply not saying when such an experiment would take place. It seems that it could still happen prior to the Shuttles being mothballed, but he was unwilling to give a timetable.

Posted by Josh Hill.

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Comments

[knoxvilledaniel]

If NASA intends to use a plasma drive on the ISS, I think they should shore - up & reinforce it 1st. I don't think it was designed to take that kind of stress. Just because the Deep Space Nine station was regularly moved on the Star Trek spin - off of the same name doesn't mean that it can be done in real life, at least without some preparation & precaution.

[Stargazer]

Space-based testing is obviously essential to move VASIMR propulsion to the next level. While attaching it to the ISS might not be the ideal proof of concept, it is far better than just leaving it in a lab in Texas. We have to find a way to move forward on new concepts of space propulsion that can help bring manned planetary exploration closer to reality. The sooner the better.

[knoxvilledaniel]

I may have missed something, but there should be plans to test it on some un - manned probes with sensors & flight recorders 1st, & see what happens that way. Slapping a plasma - drive engine ( or 2 ) on the ISS could prove hazardous if something " gangs agley ". That ISN'T the answer, & the people on board are not " lab rats ".

[Wade]

Don't you think that they wouldn't test this engine if it was unsafe? Nowhere do I see them talking about attaching it to the ISS and using it as a form of propulsion. All I have seen is that they plan on testing it there, not on whether it will move the ISS.