Student Work

Development of a time-of-flight spectrometer to measure micronewton thruster performance

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Colloid thrusters provide micro-newtons of thrust, allowing for precision spacecraft control. In a vacuum, colloid thrusters will emit a cone shaped plume consisting of charged droplets. Previous works have characterized an overall charge-to-mass distribution in this plume, however different regions within the plume have not been studied. This project involved designing and building an instrument that can move a small target in cylindrical coordinates, and can record the information gathered by the target and associated electronics using LabVIEW software.

  • This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.
Creator
Publisher
Identifier
  • 03D048M
Advisor
Year
  • 2003
Date created
  • 2003-01-01
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Permanent link to this page: https://digital.wpi.edu/show/70795b756