Introduction to Ion Thrusters

A very brief introduction to Ion Thrusters

[ElizabethGreene]

"Fuel Efficiency of a Prius, Top Speed of a Lamborghini, and acceleration of a potted plant." ... That is fantastic, and I'm stealing it! :)

[DrGlickenstine]

Very clear, no unnecessary details. Great presentation.

[AliHSyed]

i laughed at "fuel efficiency of a Prius, top speed of a Lamborghini and the acceleration of a potted plant..." very good

[Kargoneth]

Those thrusters are huge! I thought they were the size of a dinner plate. I guess they can be built at any size, like a rocket engine.

[toddhardin]

Thanks for a well done and informative intro. Having an interview next week for a company that produces these, I was glad to have found this!
JT Hardin
Senior Digital Design Engineer, Space Systems

[RogerDDog]

I will have to watch it again but that was wonderfully concise and detailed and free of jargon enough for an idiot like me to pick up the basics. Thank you!

[chrispatrick]

As a Lay person who was just interested in what Ion Propulsion was, this was a very good presentation. I generally have a very bleak outlook for the future as something dystopian and unavoidable. Science gives me hope.

[DrMolotoff]

Yes they are, this repulsion actually helps the acceleration. As the ionization chamber fills with the positively charged ions they start to repel each other. This causes the ions to get pushed towards and eventually though the positive grid. Once the ions are on the outside of the positive grid it pushes them towards the negative grid. Hope that cleared it up.

[KraussEMUS]

If you click on the channel icon to the left, you can see a series of small ion thrusters that accelerate at greater than 1G and lift their power supply against Earth's gravity! They can carry small propellant tanks as well.

[StonyRC]

Excellent explanation - really puts the Ion Drive into perspective. Many thanks.

[exhale]

Hey, man, real cool video. You're excellent at breaking things down so an average Joe like me can understand.

[ivanbecerril]

If I understood correctly, this would be used for deep space exploration and not liftoff?

[davidhart]

Nice presentation Nathan, what I liked best about it was that it sounds like you really have a grasp on the topic, rather than simply regurgitating information from your research.

[parad]

this is a very good introduction to ion thrusters and their inner workings! Thanks for the upload

[TyroniousRex]

succinct, precise and articulate! what more could you ask for! well done my friend and thank you

[aybikedemirsan]

This is really a very nice introduction! I usually never leave comments.. this time I have to, because it was as precise described as possible in such a brief summary. Thank you so much Nate, you did a really great job! :)

[granddad]

There are other terms in Ion drive design that are neglected to be mentioned. There is no limit to how much electrical wattage you can put into the system. You could make a very powerful 'afterburner' with positrons. There was a 'hybrid' propulsion system developed in Israel using a spool of Uranium wire as a secondary fuel..'Kind of a 'nitrous bottle' for an Ion drive.

[adamyourke]

Thank you. That’s exactly what I wanted to know. I heard that DART had an ion thruster and now I know what that means.

[thorandlundeve]

engineer : how much xenon you need?
engine : yes

[TheNinjaEvan]

I like the bit about the potted plant.