New V5 boards arrived for the ILIS1 electrospray thruster the other day! Based on the first igntion test results, no silkscreen at all was added to these to reduce outgassing issues, as well as temporarily removed some extra readout circuitry … Continued
In preperation for the big second fueling and ignition test of the AIS-ILIS1 ionic liquid electrospray thruster, I spent the past couple of days working on a new chamber upgrade for TVAC thermal vacuum baking capabilities. Added a 10′, 500W, … Continued
While reinspecting the ILIS1 ionic liquid electrospray thruster 3D printed casing in preparation for the next test, I discovered a critical new piece of info. I found that the top of the case, which is supposed to be 2mm, is … Continued
Its taken some time to get around to it, but the new AIS-ePPT1 micro pulsed plasma thruster PCB design is complete and off for production! This new PPT will hopefully be a massive improvement from my original AIS-gPPT3-1C, while overall … Continued
Taking lessons from the first ignition test, the new ILIS1 V5 boards are already underway! No silkscreen this time with a simplified voltage readout. This is probably the most bare-bones fully integrated ion thruster possible. Everything is in motion for … Continued
I finally started soldering up and testing the new AIS-gPPT3-1C thruster learning kit prototype. Still needs some tweaks but it’s getting there! In the video I am running the actual gPPT3 test control code, monitoring one of the output channels. … Continued
In my previous few posts, I have reviewed the first ever ignition test of the AIS-ILIS1 ionic liquid ion source electrospray thruster for nanosatellites. In PART 1 I reviewed the fueling of the thruster, and in PART 2 I reviewed the setup and test … Continued
The other day, on July 4th, 2020, I attempted the first ever fueling and ignition of the AIS-ILIS1 ionic liquid electrospray thruster. Fueling started out rocky but ended up succeeding, however the ignition test was unsuccessful. In PART 1 I … Continued
In my previous post, I reviewed PART 1 of the first ever AIS-ILIS1 ionic liquid ion source electrospray thruster test, reviewing the fueling stage of the test. In this post, I review the actual ignition test, attempted right after fueling … Continued
After half a year in the making, with the new Edwards RV12 roughing pump, and getting my system back online troubleshooting the last remaining bugs, vacuum capabilities were restored and yesterday, July 4th, 2020 I attempted the first ever fueling … Continued