Full Throttle For Deep Space 1
Explanation:
At full throttle the
Deep Space 1 spacecraft's
innovative ion drive
produces about 1/50th of a pound of thrust ... a force so great
that it would
just about
hold up a piece of paper on planet Earth!
Still, powered by solar arrays
ion propulsion
systems can run continuously.
For long duration space missions they ultimately
win out
over the powerful
but brief blasts of less efficient
chemical rockets.
Deep Space 1 is
seen
here suspended in an assembly room, a folded
solar array
resting above the circular ion propulsion module.
Already a successful
technology
demonstrator with experimental
autonomous software,
the spacecraft flew by
asteroid 9969 Braille in July of 1999.
Later that year, in November, the robot probe was
nearly lost due to the failure of its wide-field star tracker camera.
But engineers were able to reprogram the navigation
system to utilize another on-board camera and on 28 June 2000
the ion drive was throttled up.
Now, the
adventures
of Deep Space 1 continue.
Again
steering by the stars, Deep Space 1
is
scheduled to rendezvous with periodic
Comet
Borrelly today.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
