Our next MIPSE seminar will be presented by Dr. Marcel Georgin of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL).
The seminar, to be held Wednesday, April 9, at 3:10 pm in Room 1003 EECS, is titled “RF Plasma Cathodes and Other Research Activities in the Plasma Propulsion Group at NRL”. NRL is a major center for development of plasma propulsion systems with a focus on long lived systems for space missions and the plasma physics that might limit or enhance that longevity.
Dr. Georgin will provide an overview of these activities. Please see attached flyer or (https://mipse.umich.edu/seminars_2425.php) for details.
The seminar will be conducted in person and simulcast via Zoom (see (https://mipse.umich.edu/seminars_2425.php#winter2025) on the MIPSE website).
Agenda:
This talk discusses recent work on RF plasma
cathodes, propellant agnostic electron sources
for electric propulsion systems that enable new
deep space exploration mission architectures
such as in-situ resource utilization. We develop
the fundamental theory for these devices and
demonstrate its effectiveness at determining IV characteristics and performance. From our
measurements and model, we project thruster
performance and discuss the consequences for
space exploration. Then we dive into non-ideal
behavior that can be exhibited in these cathodes including sheath expansion and mode
transitions. The remainder of the discussion will
overview other plasma-related research activities in the NRL propulsion group.
About the Speaker: Dr. Marcel Georgin is an Aerospace Engineer at th
Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/478962