Sivani Vemparala

Calculating the maximum thrust generated per second by a model ionic engine when a cosmic ray source is incident on it using OpenMC

Started June 21, 2024

Abstract or project description

The paper describes the maximum thrust potentially produced by an ionic thruster placed in deep space when cosmic rays are incident on it and aims to utilize this radiation as the primary external source for ionizing the thruster's propellant (commonly xenon). It accomplishes this by manipulating cosmic rays to generate the highly ionizing alpha particles by incidenting them on an array of suitable materials which ultimately removes the need for a hollow cathode to emit electrons and knock out ions from the propellant. The results have been calculated and tabulated using OpenMC. Various assumptions have been taken to run tallies on suitable parameters on OpenMC to ensure complexity of the derived equations has been kept at a minimum. The paper is purely hypothetical and takes advantage of existing resources and technology to arrive at a probable conclusion.