Engine failure for Japan’s Procyon probe
The failure of the ion engine of an experimental cubesat called Procyon, launched with Hayabusa-2 to test small satellite technologies, has forced engineers to cancel their attempt to have the probe fly past a different asteroid.
They think dust in the engine caused a short circuit.
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The failure of the ion engine of an experimental cubesat called Procyon, launched with Hayabusa-2 to test small satellite technologies, has forced engineers to cancel their attempt to have the probe fly past a different asteroid.
They think dust in the engine caused a short circuit.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
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I hope this is not a problem for ion thrusters as such.
Frankly I think we should be focusing our efforts in propulsion on MPD thrusters rather then ion powered “mouse farts.” The MPD has been shown to have superior specific impulse and provide much, much greater thrust then then it’s ion counterpart. The only drawbacks to the design is that an MPD thruster requires a great deal of power (much more then ion engines, but that’s what provides the greater fuel efficiency and thrust) and the only viable way to provide that power is with a nuclear source, but of course, we are all terrified of anything nuclear in space. The MPD’s also have an annoying habit of eroding their Anodes, but as I said, this is where our efforts should be directed. Once the Anode problem has been conquered, all that is left is to attach the engine to a suitable power supply. After that we’ll have the perfect electric propulsion system for going just about anywhere in our solarsystem.