OPERATIONAL COMPATIBILITY OF 30-CENTIMETER-DIAMETER ION THRUSTER WITH INTEGRALLY REGULATED SOLAR ARRAY POWER SOURCE

摘要

System tests were performed in which integrally regulated solar arrays (IRSA's) were used to directly power the beam and accelerator loads of a 30-cm-diameter, electron bombardment, mercury ion thruster. The remaining thruster loads were supplied from conventional power-processing circuits. This combination of IRSA's and conventional circuits formed a "hybrid" power processor. Thruster performance was evaluated at 3/4- and 1-A beam currents with both the IRSA-hybrid and conventional power processors and was found to be identical for both systems. Power processing is significantly more efficient with the hybrid system. System dynamics and IRSA response to thruster arcs were also examined.