Events
Miniaturizing Electric Propulsion: the ion Electrospray Propulsion System (iEPS)
| Date: | Friday 18 November 2011 14:00 - 15:00 |
| Location: | SEMS Seminar Room (Third Floor Engineering, behind School Office) |
Professor Paulo Lozano - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Electric Propulsion (EP) brings many benefits for missions requiring relatively large delta-V due to the reduced propellant use derived from their high specific impulse, even as additional electronics tax the vehicle mass and volume. Introducing EP in small satellites would enable them to perform interesting missions, such as long term attitude control/drag cancellation, orbital modification and, perhaps, deep space travel. However, most EP technologies are challenging to miniaturize to the required levels, especially for nano/pico-satellites. In this talk we discuss these challenges and will describe the ion Electrospray Propulsion System (iEPS) as an example of an EP technology amenable for efficient miniaturization. Electrosprays are devices that produce emission and acceleration of charged particles from a conductive liquid. The main benefit is their intrinsic small size, clustering potential in parallel MEMS-based arrays and high efficiency. In particular, the iEPS concept relies on the emission of molecular ions to produce thrust. Such configuration minimizes mass and volume allowing their use in spacecraft as small as the now popular 1 kg CubeSats.
Paulo C. Lozano is the H.N. Slater Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His main interests are plasma physics, space propulsion, ion beam physics, small satellites and nanotechnology. His research features the development of highly efficient and compact ion propulsion systems for pico/nano-satellites. In 2007, he received MIT’s Karl Chang Innovation award for his work in electrochemical microfabrication on porous metals. In 2008 he received the Young Investigator Program Award from the US Air Force for his work on propulsion and in 2011 received the Future Mind award from the Quo Science Magazine and the Discovery Channel. He has received the Outstanding Faculty UROP Mentor Award, has three patents and published over 60 conference and journal publications. He teaches subjects in space and rocket propulsion, fluid mechanics and plasma physics. Prof. Lozano earned his PhD in Space Propulsion from MIT.
