Due to the fact that any type of aerospace vessel needs energy, and in the future, this energy
must be nuclear and obtained by fusion, not by fission, this paper presents shortly a method …

The current status and challenges of the discharge plasma modeling capabilities in Hall
effect thrusters (HETs) are reviewed. Partially magnetized plasmas in HETs present unique …

The research challenges for electric propulsion technologies are examined in the context of
s-curve development cycles. It is shown that the need for research is driven both by the …

Faraday probes are a common plasma diagnostic used to determine the local ion charge
flux of electric propulsion plumes. Standard practices, guidelines, and recommendations are …

Neutral flow dynamics in Hall thrusters are not often regarded as a critical aspect that
controls thruster operation and discharge channel physics. This dissertation, combined with …

LECTRON transport and channel erosion are two major technical challenges that have
persisted since the invention of the Hall thruster over fifty years ago. The first relates to the …

We describe an overview of the design process and acceptance testing of the magnetically
shielded H9, a 9-kW class Hall thruster developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in …

MOST often regarded as a 1600-s specific impulse technology, the Hall effect thruster has
benefited from considerable theoretical and experimental research since the 1960s. 1− 3 …

HALL thrusters [1, 2] are space propulsion devices that use crossed electric and magnetic
fields to ionize and accelerate propellant atoms to high exhaust velocities. A self-consistent …

A brief review of both near-term and far-term platforms proposed for near-space operations
is given. The primary focus of the paper is, however, a review of potential advanced …