A 3D-printed thruster that emits a stream of pure ions could become
Nanosatellite engine createdby researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is the first engine of its kind - it is completely additive. It was created using a combination of 3D printing and hydrothermal growth of zinc oxide nanowires. It is also the first engine of this type to produce pure ions from fluids used to create thrust.
Pure ions make the engine more efficient,than similar modern devices, giving it more thrust per unit of fuel flow, explained Luis Fernando Velazquez-Garcia, chief scientist at MIT's Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL).
The thrust provided by a device the size ofcoin, scanty. Force can be measured on a scale of a few tens of micronewtons, with thrust about half the weight of one of the sesame seeds in a hamburger bun. But in a frictionless orbit environment, a CubeSat or similar small satellite can use these tiny thrusts to accelerate or maneuver with precise control.
Velázquez-García emphasizes that the advantages of additive manufacturing open up new low-cost opportunities for powering satellites.
Miniature thruster runningelectrohydrodynamically, producing a fine stream of accelerated charged particles that are ejected to create a driving force. The particles come from an ionic liquid. Its peculiarity is that it contains only ions. In the broad sense of this concept, ionic liquids are any molten salts, for example, molten sodium chloride at temperatures above 800 °C.
MIT design printed on3D printer, contains an ionic liquid reservoir along with a miniature picket fence of emitter cones coated with zinc oxide nanowires hydrothermally grown on the surface of the cones. The nanowires act like wicks, transporting fluid from the reservoir to the emitter tips. When a voltage is applied between the emitters and the 3D-printed pull-out electrode, charged particles are ejected from the emitter tips. Researchers experimented with printing stainless steel emitters as well as polymer resin.
Nanosatellite engines that emitpure ion fluxes are the first of their kind to be completely additively produced using a combination of 3D printing and hydrothermal growth of zinc oxide nanowires. The stainless steel version (top) performs better overall, but is much more expensive to manufacture. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found that the polymer version (bottom) gives comparable performance at a lower cost. Photo: Velazquez-Garcia Group
Read more
Saturn's moon Titan is remarkably similar to Earth. What plans does humanity have for it?
Large numbers of gray whales start starving and dying in the Pacific
A third of those who have recovered from COVID-19 return to the hospital. Every eighth - dies
Additive technologies (Additive Manufacturing - from the word additivity - added) is a layer-by-layer building up and synthesis of an object using 3D computer technologies.
Kubsat - the format of small artificial satellitesLands for space exploration, having dimensions of 10x10x10 cm with a mass of no more than 1.33 kg. The creation of cubesats became possible thanks to the development of microminiaturization and the use of general industrial microelectronics to create space satellites.
Emitter follower - a special casevoltage repeaters on three-electrode active devices based on a bipolar transistor. It is characterized by high current gain, voltage transfer coefficient is close to unity.