SBIR Phase I: A Fully Electric Space Vehicle Propulsion Engine

SBIR 第一阶段：全电动航天器推进发动机

• 批准号: 2318600
• 负责人: Rebecca Glenn
• 金额: $ 27.28万
• 依托单位: MORNINGBIRD MEDIA CORPORATION
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2318600&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Fully; Electric; Space

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is a fundamental change in the way spacecraft propulsion can be achieved, perhaps leading to orders of magnitude faster space travel. Recent physics breakthroughs suggest that the development of an electromagnetically powered engine could enable high-speed travel under the right conditions. Commercially, there is great potential to decrease transit time to destinations on earth, to low-earth orbit, to the moon, and to destinations further in our solar system. Success in developing this engine will initially be developed by improving satellite positioning and accessing orbits. Further scale up of this propulsion system could serve as a platform technology to enable increased access to space due to reduced need for chemical propellant and enhanced speeds. This SBIR Phase I project develops and tests a prototype engine by verifying the creation of electromagnetically driven propulsion. By utilizing a complex dielectric material as the environment where electromagnetic energy is introduced, the proof-of-concept engine will verify that the weak and strong force conditions are not violated and that a positive energy density can initiate nanoscopic distortions, to demonstrate novel electromagnetic propulsion in the form of further scalable engines. A number of researchers have begun building upon the work of Albert Einstein’s general relativity theory and now Miguel Alcubierre’s metric that suggests that a vessel can be propelled by selective distortion. Two key goals are the development and implementation of the complex dielectric material, and the determinization of the radio frequency power required to achieve sufficient propulsion. The project approach will include: (a) mathematical modeling, (b) comprehensive simulations of different embodiments of the approach, (c) experimental verification of nanoscopic distortions using an established laser interferometry approach, and (d) design and testing of the prototype propulsion engine. Beyond the initial prototype, the next stages include an optimization of the power/distortion metrics, association of the distortion to thrust, and maximization of the thrust to weight ratio. Ultimately, this research is expected to lead to enhanced electric propulsion that will be applicable initially to satellites, but ultimately, to a wide range of on earth and off planet propulsion.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是航天器推进方式的根本性改变，可能会导致太空旅行速度加快几个数量级。最近的物理突破表明，太空旅行的发展可能会更快。电磁动力发动机可以在适当的条件下实现高速旅行，在缩短到达地球目的地、近地轨道、月球以及太阳系更远目的地的运输时间方面具有巨大潜力。开发这个引擎最初将通过改进卫星定位和进入轨道来开发，进一步扩大该推进系统的规模可以作为一种平台技术，以减少对化学推进剂的需求并提高速度，从而增加进入太空的机会。通过验证电磁驱动推进力的创建，验证原型发动机通过利用复杂的介电材料作为引入电磁能的环境，概念验证发动机将验证弱力和强力条件是否被违反，并且正能量密度可以引发纳米级扭曲，以进一步可扩展的发动机的形式展示新颖的电磁推进，许多研究人员已经开始以阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦的广义相对论和米格尔·阿尔库别尔的度量为基础，该度量表明容器可以。两个关键目标是复杂介电材料的开发和实施，以及确定实现足够推进力所需的射频功率。 (a) 数学建模，(b) 该方法不同实施例的综合模拟，(c) 使用已建立的激光干涉测量方法对纳米级变形进行实验验证，以及 (d) 原型推进发动机的设计和测试。 ，下一阶段包括功率/畸变指标的优化、畸变与推力的关联以及推力与重量比的最大化，最终，这项研究预计将导致最初适用于卫星的增强型电力推进。但最终，该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。