The upcoming ignition test for the AIS-ILIS1 ionic liquid ion source electrospray thruster will require a lot of setup, and multiple in-vacuum connections for the various stages of the test. The vacuum feedthroughs are finally prepped and ready for ILIS1 fueling and testing phases. Taking lessons learned from prior testing, I wanted more stable connections that are easier to connect to. Turns out uninsulated screw-mounted banana jacks are perfect for feedthrough pin to wire connections! Simple, cheap, and effective!
Three different feedthroughs are required for the test. 4-pin feedthrough for the fueling station, 8-pin feedthrough for the ILIS1 thruster connections, and a 1-pin feedthrough for the Faraday cup readout connection.
As a note for using banana jacks, often times cheaper ones are made from brass. Since brass contains zinc, which has very high vapor pressure in vacuum when heated, I would not recommend using brass jacks in situations where bakeout is required or the connectors will be heated in any way. However, at room temperature, the outgassing from zinc is negligible, and should not be an issue.