Recently I had the fantastic opportunity to be a part of the first guest episode of a new podcast, SPACE ROOTS, dedicated to exploring a new DIY grassroots movement in the space industry. In this episode I talked about DIY … Continued
For the upcoming ignition test of the AIS-ILIS1 ionic liquid ion source electrospray thruster, I need a way to definitively verify ignition, as well as start to gauge performance to estimate thrust and ISP. One of the simplest and most … Continued
A critical part of the preparation for the AIS-ILIS1 ionic liquid ion source electrospray thruster testing is fueling the thruster. There are numerous ways to do it, and after much though, I have decided upon one way that will balance … Continued
I’ve got an exciting and major announcement for the AIS-ILIS1 electrospray thruster development effort! It has been a long time coming, but finally this past Saturday, May 9th, I qualified the ILIS1 drive electronics with the new V4 boards! We … Continued
The new V4 boards for the AIS-ILIS1 ionic liquid ion source electrospray thruster are finally in from Osh Park! With any luck I will have these soldered up and tested within the next day or two. This is the big … Continued
The first round of laser cut extractors and distal electrode sets for the AIS-ILIS1 electrospray thruster arrived today! For the extractors, I got 2 copies each of 3 different aperture widths in both SS and nickel, so plenty to explore … Continued
Another major parts arrival came in to AIS recently. These are the first set of new 3D printed thruster casings are in for the ILIS1 ionic liquid ion source electrospray thruster. I will be starting to experiment with a couple … Continued
Finally, we have HV switching and isolation! Over the weekend I put together the AIS-ILIS1 V4 prototype on the breadboard with the new micro HV reed relays and control circuit using the old V1 board and new control code for … Continued
After a week of intense PCB design work, the AIS-ILIS1 V4 board is complete and off to OSHPark for manufacture! The ILIS1 electronics has gone through a major redesign and upgrade with the V4 board from the very first V1 … Continued
In previous blog posts I introduced the AIS Io Series solid iodine fueled thruster concept design. Besides being an ultra-low cost solid iodine fueled thruster system, it focuses on a unique, highly modular core design based around high temperature rated … Continued