NASA GRC NEWS RELEASE 99-51




News Release 99-51



For Release: June 22, 1999



Pam Caswell/Lori J. Rachul
Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH
(Bus: 216/433-5795)



John G. Watson
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
(Phone: 818/354-5011)


<h3>Ion Propulsion System Wins Discover Magazine Award</h3> 

CLEVELAND, OH - The futuristic ion propulsion system on NASA's Deep 
Space 1 spacecraft is the winner of Discover Magazine's Award for 
Technological Innovation in the exploration category.



Discover magazine's annual awards, now in their 10th year, honor teams 
whose innovations improve the quality of everyday life. Twenty-seven 
technologies were selected as finalists. Nine winners, featured in 
Discover's July issue, were announced at a recent ceremony in 
Florida.



The award went to NASA's Solar Electric Propulsion Technology 
Application Readiness (NSTAR) program team, which developed and 
delivered Deep Space 1's ion propulsion system. Accepting on behalf 
of the team was former NSTAR manager Jack Stocky of NASA's Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.



The ion drive combines a gas found in photo flash units with some of 
the technologies that make television picture tubes work to deliver a 
thrust only as powerful as the pressure of a sheet of paper resting 
on the palm of a hand. Despite the almost imperceptible level of 
thrust, this engine, for a given amount of fuel, can increase a 
spacecraft's velocity 10 times more than can a conventional liquid or 
solid fuel rocket.



Deep Space 1, launched last October, has tested 12 new technologies, 
including ion propulsion, so that they can be confidently used on 
science missions of the 21st century.



The NASA Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Application Readiness 
program began in the early 1990s as a partnership between JPL and 
NASA's Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH, to develop xenon ion 
engines for deep space missions. In June 1996, a prototype engine 
built by the Glenn center began a long-duration test in a vacuum 
chamber at JPL simulating the conditions of outer space. The test 
concluded in September 1997 after the engine successfully logged more 
than 8,000 hours of operation.



Results of the tests were used to define the design of flight hardware 
that was built for Deep Space 1 by Hughes Electron Dynamics Division, 
Torrance, CA, and Spectrum Astro Inc., Gilbert, AZ. Other partners in 
the development of the flight ion engine system included Moog Inc., 
East Aurora, NY, and Physical Science Inc., Andover, MA. Development 
of the ion propulsion system was supported by NASA's Office of Space 
Science and the Office of Aeronautics and Space Transportation 
Technology, Washington, DC. A portion of the program was supported by 
the Advanced Space Transportation Program, managed by NASA's Marshall 
Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL.



Deep Space 1 is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute 
of Technology, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Space Science, 
Washington, DC. More information about the mission is available on 
the web at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ds1news.

# # # 

Local note:



NASA Glenn personnel developed the prototype ion engine and the 
power-processing unit, which converts energy captured by solar arrays 
into power for the engine. The prototype engine was also built at 
Glenn, and the contractor-built flight thruster elements were 
acceptance tested at Glenn.



NSTAR team members at Glenn include thruster element manager James 
Sovey of Strongsville, John Hamley of Brunswick, who designed the 
power processor; Michael Patterson of Brunswick, who designed the ion 
engine; Vince Rawlin of Wellington, who integrated and tested the ion 
engine and power processor, and Robert Roman of Brookpark who 
assembled the prototype engine.



99-51

	
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