Solar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism
- Made:
- 2015 in Farnborough
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LicenseSolar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism from
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Solar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism from
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Solar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism from
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Solar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism from
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Solar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism from
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Solar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism from
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Solar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism from
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Solar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism from
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Solar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism from
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Solar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism from
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Solar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism from
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Solar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism from
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Solar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism from
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Solar-electric thruster, or T6 Gridded Ion Thruster, with pointing mechanism from BepiColombo Structural Thermal Model. The thrusters use xenon gas which is ionised and accelerated in an electric field. It is ejected at very high speed using only electric power provided by solar cells. This creates the thrust. This thruster was made by QinetiQ for ESA.
Electric propulsion systems use energy generated from solar arrays or a nuclear reactor on the spacecraft. This T6 thruster gets its power from BepiColombo's solar arrays. The power generated from the solar panels is used to ionize (postively charge) inert gas propellants, in this case xenon. An electrostatic (gridded ion) field then accelerates the ions and pushes them out of the thruster, driving the spacecraft forward. Using this type of thruster and propellant allows spacecraft to travel much further than chemical propellants . While the thrust generated is low, it can go for a long time!
Details
- Category:
- Space Technology
- Object Number:
- L2018-24/2
- Measurements:
-
overall: 770 mm x 660 mm x 550 mm,
- type:
- thruster
