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The Astrowright blog just posted a great article about JPA.

Astrowright

We ran two more tests on with the Mini MHD generator today. The first one we tried a welders torch as a flame source. The idea was it could be a very clean and fast way to test the setup before using a rocket motor. It ended up providing very low power output and really overheating the generator. It took an hour to get the smell of burning seals out the shop.

The second firing tested a new electrode design and mounting technique. We’re finally getting smooth and consistent primary voltage.

This one is about three years out.  The Block 4 Mach Glider is twenty feet long and will be driven by our quad rocket engine. It’s to be carried to 100,000 feet by the Tandem airship and fired to 160,ooo feet.

This was our seventh MHD firing.

We fired the mini MHD generator for the third time today. We’re firing it with one sensor at a time to debug the unit. We got data across the run, but at  lower than expected values. The smaller motors seem to foul the anode and cathode more the the larger motors do.  Perhaps the larger motor scrub the inside of the generator while it’s running. We’re still getting separation of the anode and cathode from the ceramic walls.

Need more testing…

Close up of sparks.

Here’s the second firing:

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We did the first two firings of the mini MHD generator today.

This unit can be unclamped and easily disassembled. This gives up a rapid turn around for a lot more testing.

Here’s a pics from our Away 25 mission at 100,000 feet.

Today we’re going to be working on the crew module mockup and the MHD generators. We’re experimenting with a stand up configuration for the crew for the module. The nice thing about a full size mockup is that you get to experiment and find out quickly what works and what ideas to later pretend you never had.

We’re finishing up a mini-MHD generator. This one will use even smaller rocket motors. The mini will be used as a base for testing the sensors. With the smaller engines we can fired several times a day pretty cheaply.  If all goes well with the sensor we’re going to try and get a firing in on the quads MHD generator.

We still have the 50 foot airbeam we want to test at 4 psi. However that’s best done outside and it looks like rain tomorrow, (we fire the rockets under an awning).

We’re been studying other people’s magnetohydrodynamic generators. This one is pretty interesting. It’s a Russian space based MHD generator that uses a liquid rocket engine at it’s core.