Patent Number: 048256471
Section: abstract

A thruster assembly is disclosed which includes a removable filament mounted in a heat exchange cavity which isolates propellant from the filament and transfers energy from the filament to the propellant. The filament may comprise a single winding of wire or may, if desired, comprise a bifilar wound helix. Also disclosed are a number of ways of powering the filament including a plurality of power supplies provided for redundancy as well as variability of operation. The thruster assembly housing includes sophisticated heat conduction structure including a tortuous internal heat conduction path which minimizes heat loss from the thruster for a variety of disclosed purposes. Also disclosed is structure for providing energy transfer to propellant both through radiation and emission. Several techniques for improving the performance of the thruster assembly and particularly related to the nozzle structure as well as to the fuel supply structure and heat exchange structure form the main basis for this disclosure. Further, a test bed facility for testing the inventive thruster assembly is set forth.