Micro-Thruster Built by TRW Team Fires on Sub-Orbital Test; Tiny Propulsion System Targets Future Microsatellites.Business Editors NOTE TO MEDIA: Photo is available in a Smart News Release(TM) on Business Wire's Home Page at www.businesswire.com and at www.newstream.com REDONDO BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2001 A micro-thruster array measuring one-quarter the size of a penny, designed by a TRW-led team (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :TRW TRW The Real World (TV reality show) TRW The Right Way TRW Tactical Reconnaissance Wing TRW The Retriever Weekly (University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD) TRW Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc ) for use on micro-, nano- and pico-satellites, has successfully demonstrated its functionality in a live fire test aboard a Scorpius sub-orbital sounding rocket. Individual micro-electromechanical system (MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) Tiny mechanical devices that are built onto semiconductor chips and are measured in micrometers. In the research labs since the 1980s, MEMS devices began to materialize as commercial products in the mid-1990s. ) thrusters, each a poppy seed-sized cell fueled with lead styphnate propellant pro·pel·lant also pro·pel·lent n. 1. Something, such as an explosive charge or a rocket fuel, that propels or provides thrust. 2. , fired more than 20 times at 1-second intervals during the test staged at the White Sands Missile Range White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), formerly known as the White Sands Proving Grounds, is a rocket range in New Mexico operated by the United States Army. The range covers an area of almost 3,200 mi² (8 287 km²), approximately three times the size of Rhode Island, making it . Each thruster delivered 10(-4) Newton seconds of impulse. "The test proves the technology behind this micro-thruster is well along in its development," said David H. Lewis Jr., TRW's MEMS Digital Micro-Propulsion project manager. "We're very pleased with its performance at White Sands. We believe micro-thrusters have the potential to provide on-orbit propulsion for station keeping, orbital correction and attitude control for future, very small satellites weighing from less than a pound to as much as 50 pounds." The MEMS design, based on silicon chip fabrication technology, offers several advantages over conventional thrusters: It has no moving parts, utilizes a variety of propellants, is scalable, eliminates the need for tanks, fuel lines and valves, and fully integrates the structure of the satellite with the propulsion to power it. The micro-thruster is being developed by TRW and teammates Caltech and the Aerospace Corp. under a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. government agency administered by the Department of Defense (see Defense, United States Department of). . The MEMS micro-thruster arrays are fabricated as a three-layer silicon and glass sandwich, with the middle layer consisting of multiple small propellant cells sealed with a rupturable diaphragm on one side and an ignitor on the other. Each cell is a separate thruster, and when ignited, delivers one impulse bit. Delivering propulsion in discrete increments by igniting thrusters in controlled sequences has lent the technology the name "digital propulsion." TRW Space & Electronics builds communications, scientific and defense spacecraft for military, civil and commercial customers; produces, integrates and tests payloads; develops advanced space instruments; and integrates experiments into spacecraft. It is an operating unit operating unit A type of operating company that engages in transactions with outsiders and that is owned by another business. For example, in 1995 the stockholders of Capital Cities/ABC approved a $19 billion merger with the Walt Disney Company, whereupon of TRW Inc., which provides advanced technology products and services for global automotive, aerospace, telecommunications and information systems markets. TRW's Web site is at http://www.trw.com. Note: A Photo is available at URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. : http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/photo.cgi?pw.051601/bb3 |
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