Predicting the lifetime of an electric ion thruster is notoriously difficult. You have to account for the chamber wall effects, which are not present in space environments. Researchers within several different aerospace disciplines in The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign worked together to simulate the ion activity, then validate it in a unique experiment that will help predict the lifespan of electric thrusters.

“We can simulate the damage to the engine caused by sputtering, but until now, we could not validate that our simulations were correct,” said Professor Huck Beng Chew.

“Because both the engine and chamber walls are coated with impact-resistant carbon, we didn’t know whether the coating damage was from accelerated ions directly hitting the engine or whether the coating damage was artificially mitigated by the deposition of carbon from ion bombardment off the chamber walls.”

Yesterday, Pulsar Fusion unveiled a revolutionary new space propulsion design called the Sunbird.
If it lives up to its potential, it will completely revolutionize Interplanetary Spaceflight!

And I got the first EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW!
#space #fusion #nasa.

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Is NASA still Moonbound, or will the next giant leap mean skipping straight to Mars?

Speculation is mounting that the Trump administration may scale back or cancel NASA’s Artemis missions following the departure of a key official and Boeing’s plans to lay off hundreds of employees working on its lunar rocket.

Late Wednesday, NASA abruptly announced the retirement of longtime associate administrator Jim Free, effective Saturday.

After an initial focus on scientific research, including Sierra’s partnership with Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origins on developing a private space station, the Dream Chaser will be involved in commercial operations by hauling cargo and shuttling scientists and researchers to and from space stations.

Both Sierra Space and Radian also have space-tourism aspirations that go beyond much of what’s currently available, including 11-minute flights by Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, and longer space-balloon flights by companies like Space Perspective and Zephalto that do not reach Low Earth Orbit. “Passengers will be able to go up and stay in orbit,” says Humphrey, whose company has the most developed passenger plans right now. “We can go around the planet in about 95 minutes, so a typical trip will probably be three laps.”

Visits to one or more of the six space stations currently under development lie ahead as well. “We’re calling it purposeful tourism,” says Angie Wise, Sierra’s chief safety officer and SVP of mission and quality assurance. “You’ll get the experience of going to space, but we’ll also put you to work helping with experiments.”

The two astronauts who made Boeing Starliner’s initial crewed flight test in June have now scheduled to return to Earth after their much-awaited return.

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will be leaving the International Space Station (ISS) days after the landing of SpaceX’s next Crew-10 mission.

Crew-10, which has four astronauts on board, will launch next week and will take the place of the Crew-9 team that is currently on the ISS.

Intuitive Machines’ Athena lander is on the moon’s surface but its status is unclear. Second time unlucky: A US company’s lunar lander appears to have touched down at a wonky angle on Thursday, an embarrassing repeat of its previous mission’s less-than-perfect landing last year.

#NovaC
#IM2Mission.
#LunarLanding.
#MoonExploration.
#NASA
#SpaceX
#FutureOfSpace.

Credit: nasa.

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NASA has just pulled off a breakthrough that could change space communication forever. A deep-space laser transmission has traveled an astonishing distance, surpassing anything done before.

[TIME SUBJECT TO CHANGE] This is the eighth fully integrated test flight of Starship with its Super Heavy booster, the largest and most powerful rocket to ever fly. This is the second launch of the new Starship upper stage with many tweaks, bringing it closer to full functionality.

If all goes well, Starship will softly splashdown in the Indian Ocean about 66 minutes after it lifts off from Starbase, TX, having performed a Raptor relight test and deploying 4 Starlink mass simulators. SpaceX will hopefully be attempting to catch the Super Heavy booster with the launch tower again, which would be the third catch of the booster.

Want more information on how exactly they’ll catch Super Heavy? WATCH THIS — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAPt5vbr-YU

Want to know where to watch this live? I made a video on how to visit Starbase and where to watch a launch from — https://youtu.be/aWvHrih-Juk.

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The successful landing of a Cedar Park lunar lander is putting the pressure on efforts to build a workforce capable of reaching for the stars.

Leading up to the launch, NSF will go live with over six hours of commentary stakeout. We will answer questions, observe, and provide you with everything you need to know for Starship Flight 8.

Become a member of NASASpaceflight’s channel for exclusive discord access, fast turnaround clips, and other exclusive benefits. Your support helps us continue our 24/7 coverage.

If you are interested in using footage captured by this stream, please review our content use policy: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/conte…

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