西山 和孝

Backflowing ions generated by electric thrusters are known to cause sputtering and surface degradation on spacecraft, which may ultimately shorten mission lifetimes. In this study, velocity measurements for metastable xenon ions were conducted near the cathode plume of the microwave discharge ion thruster μ10 using the laser-induced fluorescence technique. In addition, a spatial distribution of plasma potential was measured by an emissive probe. The ion velocity distribution functions showed different features depending on the measurement position. The mean velocity of the drifting population at each measurement position was visualized as a velocity field. A comparison of the velocity field with the plasma potential distribution or ion number density distribution revealed a diverging center that coincided with the cathode plume, suggesting that a certain number of backflow ions originated from the cathode plume region. In particular, high-energy ions were observed between the cathode plume and the spacecraft surface. Asymmetric features were found in both the plasma potential distribution and the ion number density distribution, which implies that the effect of the magnetic field is not negligible in this region.

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft is equipped with four 10-cm-class microwave discharge ion thrusters (μ10). Onboard quartz crystal microbalance measurements have indicated surface erosion due to ion thruster operation. In this paper, the ion energy distributions (IEDs) of backflow ions were measured at several azimuthal positions around the ion source using retarding potential analyzers in a vacuum chamber. The typical IED had a peak at approximately 20 eV for all azimuthal positions. The IEDs at the high-energy tail (>40 eV), which greatly affects the erosion rate, strongly depend on the azimuthal position relative to the neutralizer position. Furthermore, IEDs were characterized under various operational conditions, including variations in neutralizer operation mode, background pressure, neutralizer gas flow rate, and neutralizer emission current. The results show that high-energy ions appeared only in the presence of a neutralizer plasma column. An increase in background pressure led to an increase in the ion population below 40 eV but a decrease in the ion population above 40 eV. Additionally, increasing the neutralizer gas flow rate suppressed the high-energy ion population, whereas increasing the neutralizer emission current enhanced it. These findings indicate that ions with energies below 40 eV are predominantly generated through charge exchange processes in the ion beam, whereas those above 40 eV are generated due to the neutralizer plasma column.

Ionic liquid electrospray thrusters represent an alternative propulsion method for spacecraft to conventional plasma propulsion because they do not require plasma generation, which significantly increases the thrust efficiency. The porous emitter thruster has the advantages of simple propellant feeding and multi-site emissions, which miniaturize the thruster size and increase thrust. However, the multi-scale nature, that is, nano- to micrometer-sized menisci on the millimeter-size porous needle tip, makes modeling multi-site emissions difficult, and direct observation is also challenging. This paper proposes a simple model for multi-site emissions, which assumes that the ionic conductivity or ion transport in the porous media determines the ion-emission current. The conductivity was evaluated by comparing the experimental and numerical data based on the model. The results suggest that the ionic conductivity of the porous emitter is suppressed by the ion–pore wall friction stress. Additionally, the model indicates that the emission area expansion on the porous emitter creates the unique curve shape of the current vs voltage characteristics for multi-site emissions.

An understanding of the degradation mechanism of a microwave discharge cathode is the key to extending the lifetime of microwave ion thruster systems. This study investigates the effect of nozzle contamination by sputtered Ag-polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) on microwave discharge cathode performance. The current–voltage characteristics were measured for nominal and contaminated (by PTFE spray with 0.2 µm thick or tape with 0.15 mm thick) cathodes. The contamination thickness and area on the nozzle were varied to investigate the characteristic differences. It was confirmed that the anode voltage increased by 20 V or more in the case of the contaminated cathode. The anode voltage was measured for the sputter-contaminated cathode to evaluate the effect of contamination under more realistic conditions. After 630 h of sputter-contamination operation, it is estimated that sputtered particles were deposited to a thickness of 77 µm at most, and the anode voltage increased by 8 V. The results show that the downstream surface of the nozzle is critical for maintaining cathode performance. The insulating coating formed by the sputtered PTFE may interfere with ion absorption and degrade electron emission capability. A theoretical model based on the extended Brophy model supports these results. This study provides important information for the use of PTFE-based materials around ion thrusters.

Abstract In electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) thrusters, the plasma mode transition is a critical phenomenon because it determines the maximum thrust performance. In ECR ion thrusters, ionization generally occurs in the magnetic confinement region, where electrons are continuously heated by ECR and confined by magnetic mirrors. However, as the flow rate increases, ionization is also observed outside the magnetic confinement region, and this induces the plasma mode transition. In our previous work, two-photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence (TALIF) analysis revealed that the stepwise ionization from the metastable state plays an important role in the ionization process. However, the distribution of the stepwise ionization has not yet been revealed because of the long lifetime of the metastable state. In this study, this distribution was investigated using one experimental and two numerical approaches. First, TALIF was applied to two types of gas injection with clear differences in thrust performance and ground-state neutral density distribution. In the first simulation, the metastable state particle simulation was used to estimate the excitation rate distribution. In the second study, simulations of the electric field of microwaves were used to estimate the contribution of the stepwise ionization to the plasma density. The experimental and numerical results revealed that the stepwise ionization spreads outside the magnetic confinement region because of the diffusion of metastable particles, and this spread induces the plasma mode transition, explaining the difference between the two types of gas injection.

In this study, a novel single-piece thin multi-layer tungsten resistive heater was successfully fabricated using additive manufacturing and tested as an electrothermal thruster. The heater has 12 resistive layers, with each layer having a thickness and height of 0.15 and 81 mm, respectively, and can provide high heating efficiency. A single-piece or monolithic heater was manufactured via additive manufacturing technique, which drastically improved its reliability and decreased its manufacturing cost. In the heating and thrust measurement tests that used nitrogen gas as a propellant, the heater reached a gas temperature of ∼2000 K at a 140-A heater current without experiencing any failure. The tungsten-heater resistance linearly increased with an increase in temperature due to the temperature dependence of tungsten's resistivity. The specific impulse and thrust increased with the heater temperature in accordance with the theoretical prediction. Even including a voltage drop due to a contact resistance, the achieved heater efficiency reached 63% at a 100-A heater current even without a thermal insulation around the thruster. The heater efficiency decreased with an increase in the heater temperature due to heat loss to the surroundings. The heat-loss analysis indicated that both thermal conduction and radiation heat losses were crucial for improving the heater performance at a high-temperature operation of over 2000 K.

<p>The authors investigate the discharge chamber of the microwave ion thruster μ10 by using kinetic particle simulation. First, to investigate the plasma phenomena qualitatively, we conduct a particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation model. The simulation results indicate that the distribution of ion density is ring-shaped. To verify the simulation result with the experimental result, the simulation result is compared with the optical emission distribution. In low propellant flow rates, the distribution of ion density agrees with the optical emission distribution. However, in high propellant flow rates, the optical emission distribution is different from simulation results in the waveguide due to the excited neutral particles. In the thruster, the performance strongly depends on the location of injecting the propellant. Hence, to develop the plasma simulation for quantitative comparison with the experiment, the distribution of the neutral density is evaluated by using direct Monte Carlo simulation (DSMC). The results show the neutral density in the waveguide increases corresponding to the ratio of waveguide injection, which indicates that the density is one of the most important parameters for quantitative evaluation with the experiment.</p>

Hayabusa2 at the asteroid Ryugu Asteroids fall to Earth in the form of meteorites, but these provide little information about their origins. The Japanese mission Hayabusa2 is designed to collect samples directly from the surface of an asteroid and return them to Earth for laboratory analysis. Three papers in this issue describe the Hayabusa2 team's study of the near-Earth carbonaceous asteroid 162173 Ryugu, at which the spacecraft arrived in June 2018 (see the Perspective by Wurm). Watanabe et al. measured the asteroid's mass, shape, and density, showing that it is a “rubble pile” of loose rocks, formed into a spinning-top shape during a prior period of rapid spin. They also identified suitable landing sites for sample collection. Kitazato et al. used near-infrared spectroscopy to find ubiquitous hydrated minerals on the surface and compared Ryugu with known types of carbonaceous meteorite. Sugita et al. describe Ryugu's geological features and surface colors and combined results from all three papers to constrain the asteroid's formation process. Ryugu probably formed by reaccumulation of rubble ejected by impact from a larger asteroid. These results provide necessary context to understand the samples collected by Hayabusa2, which are expected to arrive on Earth in December 2020. Science , this issue p. 268 , p. 272 , p. eaaw0422 ; see also p. 230