52 views

How many times will the Photon fire its Curie in order to “reach the right spot” to deploy CAPSTONE towards the Moon?

The Verge's How small launcher Rocket Lab plans to pull off its first mission to the Moon next year says (though this has since been addressed†): Photon is going to need it all in order to get NASA’s ...
90 views

Is an electric fuel tug from LEO to moon orbit economically feasible?

Does it make economical sense to use an electricaly powered fuel tug to supply a moon landing program with fuel? I am imagining an architecture of launching a 25t payload of mostly fuel into LEO which ...
92 views

Small thrust thrusters

If I have a propeller with a continuous thrust of $1 \times 10^{-9}$ Newtons, can I take the satellite from LEO to the moon? How can I calculate the time it would take for a satellite of a certain ...
704 views

Have light gases like hydrogen or helium been explored for ion propulsion?

This answer and discussion in comments below this answer mention that for an ion of mass $m$ and charge $q$ accelerated by a voltage $V$ the momentum it receives (impulse) is p = \sqrt{2mqV} = \...
146 views

Orbit transfer trajectory options to the moon

I am working on a project for a lunar flyby using a CubeSat. I was wondering what kind of trajectory transfer options are present and which one would be best for a CubeSat? I'm aiming for a transfer ...
235 views

How many spacecraft deployed from the ISS have escaped Earth orbit? Are there plans for any in the near future?

After reading Why did the Ulysses probe reach Jupiter much faster than Galileo? and answers to How many Space Shuttle payloads ended up beyond Earth orbit? and also What's the largest rocket that was ...
39 views

Major topic headings for lunar CubeSat mission design planning?

I am working on a project to design a complete mission for a lunar CubeSat. Assuming that the launch segment is already covered and I need to focus on the spacecraft design. I wanted to know what ...
156 views

Why haven't there been more space missions that use low-energy trajectories?

The Wikipedia article on low-energy transfers lists only 4 spacecraft over the past decades that at some point of the mission navigated low-energy trajectories, yet there has been extensive research ...
1k views

Could a cubesat be self propelled to the moon from LEO?

Is it possible with current technologies to propel a cubesat, which is launched from Earth, to the moon? If current propulsion systems are able to do so, how do I continue the research in this topic ...
188 views

What's the lowest altitude that an ion engine has been used for a significant orbital maneuver?

I'm thinking about trying to calculate something for Where do ion propulsion's ions go? Do they remain in the solar system or shoot out into interstellar space? Excluding low altitude tests of ion ...
726 views

How will the Lunar Gateway go to L2 and L1; how much delta-v is needed?

In a talk to the press which can be heard in the YouTube video NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine Explains the Lunar Gateway, NASA director Jim Bridenstine says after about ...
5k views

Are patched conics (and by induction, KSP) “useless” for simulating ion propulsion?

My previous KSP question What can the KSP game actually teach about spaceflight and orbital mechanics, and what are its limitations? resulted in some really productive discussions and under-the-hood ...
496 views

What are the parameters of the new Iodine electrical rocket engine developed by RSC Energia?

Several news outlets are reporting Energia Rocket and Space Corporation is nearing completion of a new electrical rocket engine using iodine stored as a solid and vaporized as needed. The new ...