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August 17, 2012 08:05 pm

Microthrusters For Small Satellites

An anonymous reader writes "A research team led by Paulo Lozano at MIT's Space Propulsion Lab and Microsystems Technology Lab have shown off a microthruster array capable of powering small satellites. The tiny, flat design could obviate the need for bulky propellant tanks. 'To explain how the thruster works, Lozano invokes the analogy of a tree: Water from the ground is pulled up a tree through a succession of smaller and smaller pores, first in the roots, then up the trunk, and finally through the leaves, where sunshine evaporates the water as gas. Lozano's microthruster works by a similar capillary action: Each layer of metal contains smaller and smaller pores, which passively suck the ionic liquid up through the chip, to the tops of the metallic tips. The group engineered a gold-coated plate over the chip, then applied a voltage, generating an electric field between the plate and the thruster's tips. In response, beams of ions escaped the tips, creating a thrust. The researchers found that an array of 500 tips produces 50 micronewtons of force — an amount of thrust that, on Earth, could only support a small shred of paper. But in zero-gravity space, this tiny force would be enough to propel a two-pound satellite.'"

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