The author reviews the spacecraft electric propulsion field and the many parallels which exist between gun technologies being developed for defense applications and rocket propulsion technologies for space exploration applications. It is pointed out that synergistic benefits can accrue through sharing information on modeling, materials power, diagnostics, thermal management, and facilities between the two fields. The technology base and facilities developed within the electromagnetic gun community could yield many-fold improvements in spacecraft electric thruster performance and ultimate space exploration capabilities
Published in:
Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on
(Volume:29
,
Issue:
1
)
Date of Publication: Jan 1993