NASA HiPEP DC ion thruster

HiPEP was NASA Glenn’s high-power gridded-ion thruster research for nuclear-electric exploration, including the proposed Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter. This record describes the DC-discharge thruster measured in the 2004 NASA report; a microwave electron-cyclotron-resonance discharge was investigated separately. Its rectangular discharge chamber and pyrolytic-graphite grids targeted long life and scalable beam area. Published DC test points span 9.7 kW, 240 mN and 5,970 s specific impulse to 39.3 kW, 670 mN and 9,620 s. The approximately 25 kW design point was exceeded in ground testing. A 2,000-hour wear test was being prepared at publication, so those initial results do not establish the proposed lifetime.