Hall thrusters, the most common type of electric propulsion system, typically use xenon as
the propellant, given its inertness, its ability to be stored at a high density under pressure …

The Hall thruster is a high-efficiency spacecraft propulsion device that utilizes plasma to
generate thrust. The most common variant of the Hall thruster is the stationary plasma …

The research challenges for electric propulsion technologies are examined in the context of
s-curve development cycles. It is shown that the need for research is driven both by the …

The future demand for enhanced telecommunication capacity required to support human
and robotic exploration from deep-space has motivated the advancement of free-space laser …

In January 2017, Psyche and a second mission concept were selected by NASA for flight as
part of the 14th Discovery mission competition. Assigned for an initial launch date in 2023 …

NASA's Psyche mission will launch in 2022 and begin a 3.6-year cruise to the metallic
asteroid Psyche, where it will examine this unique body. The baseline spacecraft design is a …

The complexities in using indirect optimization methods get compounded for practical co-
optimization problems in the presence of continuous and discrete design variables. In this …

The performance of many Hall thrusters has been shown to exhibit sensitivity to background
pressure in ground-based test facilities, and this property can have an impact on the …

The objective of the NASA Psyche mission gravity science investigation is to map the mass
distribution within asteroid (16) Psyche to elucidate interior structure and to resolve the …

While high-efficiency propulsion techniques are enabling new mission concepts in deep
space exploration, their limited thrust capabilities necessitate long thrusting arcs and make …