Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Pulsed plasma thruster
Pulsed plasma thrusters use an arc of electric current through a solid propellant (almost always teflon), to produce a quick and dependable burst of impulse. PPT's are great for attitude control, and for main propulsion on particularly small spacecraft (those in the hundred-kilogram or less category). However they are also one of the least efficient electric propulsion systems, with a thrust efficiency of less than 10%.
Pulsed plasma thrusters were the first electric propulsion system to be deployed in space, on the Soviet probes Zond-2 in 1964 and Zond-3 in 1965. Used as an experimental system for spacecraft orientation control, Soviet engineers subsequently returned to the use of high-pressure nitrogen jets.
See also: Hall effect thruster, Magnetoplasmadynamic thruster, Spacecraft propulsion
External link
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details