The Radio Frequency (RF)/Microwave Technology Center at the Oak Ridge Centers for Manufacturing Technology (ORCMT) is developing a proof-of-principle prototype for a high-power, steady-state plasma rocket engine based on the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetic Rocket (VASIMR) concept.

A plasma rocket engine uses a neutral gas and RF power to create a plasma of ionized gas-which is then accelerated by RF waves and directed by external magnetic fields through the rocket nozzle. The plasma engine is being developed in collaboration with NASA's Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory (ASPL). The first flight of this rocket will involve the Radiation and Technology Demonstration mission to map the Van Allen radiation belts in the year 2001.  ORCMT has the main responsibility for several subsystems of the VASIMR device for the mission.

For the planned test flight, the prototype will be designed and built to generate and heat a helium plasma to a temperature of one million degrees and exhaust it at a mass flow rate of 70,000 meters per second using RF waves. The plasma will be generated by a helicon plasma injector, and the ions will be accelerated to the proper exhaust velocity by ion cyclotron resonance heating.  The plasma will be confined and shaped by superconducting magnets.

The VASIMR technology has many features that make it attractive as an advanced propulsion system for space flight, including the potential for fast human spaceflight missions to Mars and the outer solar system. For human missions, the VASIMR device would also provide the capability for powered aborts of the mission in the event of an emergency.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Fusion Energy Division has been the lead laboratory for the development of RF technology for fusion energy applications for the Department of Energy for the past decade.

For information, phone 1-800-356-4USA or visit our web site: /npc.html