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MEDIA ADVISORY M16-043 NASA to Discuss Latest Developments in Solar Electric Propulsion for Future Deep Space Exploration
NASA will host a media teleconference at 11:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, April 21, to discuss the latest advances in the agency’s development of solar electric propulsion (SEP) for deep space exploration.
Tuesday’s award of a contract to Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc. for the design and development of an advanced electric propulsion system is the latest SEP milestone. A new electric propulsion system could significantly advance the nation's commercial space capabilities, and enable future deep space missions, including NASA's Journey to Mars.
The teleconference participants will be:
- Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington
- Bryan Smith, director of the Space Flight Systems Directorate at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland
An advanced electric propulsion system could potentially increase spaceflight transportation fuel efficiency by 10 times over current chemical propulsion technology and more than double thrust capability compared to current electric propulsion technology. The next step will be to demonstrate this new electric propulsion system in space. Development of this technology will advance future in-space transportation capability for a variety of deep space human and robotic exploration missions, such as the NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), as well as private commercial space missions.
RELEASE 16-044 NASA Works to Improve Solar Electric Propulsion for Deep Space Exploration
NASA has selected Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc. of Redmond, Washington, to design and develop an advanced electric propulsion system that will significantly advance the nation's commercial space capabilities, and enable deep space exploration missions, including the robotic portion of NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) and its Journey to Mars.
The Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) contract is a 36-month cost-plus-fixed-fee contract with a performance incentive and total value of $67 million. Work performed under the contract could potentially increase spaceflight transportation fuel efficiency by 10 times over current chemical propulsion technology and more than double thrust capability compared to current electric propulsion systems.
“Through this contract, NASA will be developing advanced electric propulsion elements for initial spaceflight applications, which will pave the way for an advanced solar electric propulsion demonstration mission by the end of the decade,” said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) in Washington. “Development of this technology will advance our future in-space transportation capability for a variety of NASA deep space human and robotic exploration missions, as well as private commercial space missions.”
Aerojet Rocketdyne will oversee the development and delivery of an integrated electric propulsion system consisting of a thruster, power processing unit (PPU), low-pressure xenon flow controller, and electrical harness. NASA has developed and tested a prototype thruster and PPU that the company can use as a reference design.
The company will construct, test and deliver an engineering development unit for testing and evaluation in preparation for producing the follow-on flight units. During the option period of the contract, if exercised, the company will develop, verify and deliver four integrated flight units – the electric propulsion units that will fly in space. The work being performed under this contract will be led by a team of NASA Glenn Research Center engineers, with additional technical support by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) engineers.
This work will directly complement recent advanced solar array systems work, also funded by STMD. NASA anticipates the electrical power to operate this advanced electric propulsion flight system in space will be generated by solar arrays using structures similar to those that were developed under the solar array systems contracts.
NASA has been refining development of spaceflight electric propulsion technology for more than five decades, the first successful ion electric propulsion thruster being developed at Glenn in the 1950s. The first operational test of an electric propulsion system in space was Glenn’s Space Electric Rocket Test 1, which flew on July 20, 1964.
Since then, NASA has increasingly relied on solar electric propulsion for long-duration, deep-space robotic science and exploration missions to multiple destinations, the most recent being NASA’s Dawn mission. The Dawn mission, managed by JPL, surveyed the giant asteroid Vesta and the protoplanet, Ceres, between 2011 and 2015.
The advanced electric propulsion system is the next step in NASA’s Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) project, which is developing critical technologies to extend the range and capabilities of ambitious new science and exploration missions. ARM, NASA’s mission to capture an asteroid boulder and place it in orbit around the moon in the mid-2020s, will test the largest and most advanced SEP system ever utilized for space missions.
MEDIA ADVISORY M16-042 NASA Celebrates Earth Day with Public Events, Online Activities
This year, NASA will celebrate Earth Day, April 22, with a variety of live and online activities Thursday and Friday, April 21-22, to engage the public in the agency’s mission to better understand and protect our home planet.
Earth Day in the Nation’s Capital Thursday and Friday 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Union Station main hall, 40 Massachusetts Ave., NE, Washington NASA Hyperwall and Science Gallery exhibits, hands-on activities and demonstrations. NASA scientists will give talks April 22 at the Hyperwall stage following the opening ceremony at 11 a.m., featuring NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan, Michael Freilich, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division in Washington, and others.
Earth Day at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Thursday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Space Station Processing Facility Conference Center at Kennedy
Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Activities will showcase sustainability themes, including energy saving solutions and renewable energy. More than a dozen electric cars will be on display with test drives available. Master gardeners and pollinator specialists will answer questions and offer tips. And wildlife and natural conservation specialists will discuss methods to safeguard wildlife, preserve natural resources, and protect Florida waters. Approximately 50 exhibitors from around the United States will be attending.
NASA Earth #24Seven Social Media Event Friday Online NASA is inviting people all around the world to share on social media what they are doing to celebrate and improve our home planet. In return, the space agency will also share what makes up a “day in the life” of NASA Earth science, capturing everything that’s involved in better understanding and protecting our home planet.
NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future. The agency develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records, shares this unique knowledge, and works with institutions around the world to gain new insights into how our planet is changing.
