Thruster
Encyclopedia
A thruster is a small propulsive device
used by spacecraft
and watercraft
for station keeping, attitude control
, in the reaction control system
, or long duration low thrust acceleration.
Spacecraft propulsion
Spacecraft propulsion is any method used to accelerate spacecraft and artificial satellites. There are many different methods. Each method has drawbacks and advantages, and spacecraft propulsion is an active area of research. However, most spacecraft today are propelled by forcing a gas from the...
used by spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
and watercraft
Watercraft
A watercraft is a vessel or craft designed to move across or through water. The name is derived from the term "craft" which was used to describe all types of water going vessels...
for station keeping, attitude control
Attitude dynamics and control
Spacecraft flight dynamics is the science of space vehicle performance, stability, and control. It requires analysis of the six degrees of freedom of the vehicle's flight, which are similar to those of aircraft: translation in three dimensional axes; and its orientation about the vehicle's center...
, in the reaction control system
Reaction control system
A reaction control system is a subsystem of a spacecraft whose purpose is attitude control and steering by the use of thrusters. An RCS system is capable of providing small amounts of thrust in any desired direction or combination of directions. An RCS is also capable of providing torque to allow...
, or long duration low thrust acceleration.
Spacecraft thrusters
- Rocket engineRocket engineA rocket engine, or simply "rocket", is a jet engineRocket Propulsion Elements; 7th edition- chapter 1 that uses only propellant mass for forming its high speed propulsive jet. Rocket engines are reaction engines and obtain thrust in accordance with Newton's third law...
, using exothermic chemical reactions of the propellant(s) - Electrohydrodynamic thrusterElectrohydrodynamic thrusterAn electrohydrodynamic thruster is a high voltage device that propels air or fluids to achieve relative motion. EHD thrusters, unlike ion thrusters, do not carry their own propellant and thus cannot operate in space or vacuum....
, using ionized air (only for use in an atmosphere) - Electrostatic ion thrusterElectrostatic ion thrusterAn electrostatic ion thruster is a design for ion thrusters . These designs use high voltage electrodes in order to accelerate ions with electrostatic forces.-History:...
, using high-voltage electrodes - Ion thrusterIon thrusterAn ion thruster is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion that creates thrust by accelerating ions. Ion thrusters are categorized by how they accelerate the ions, using either electrostatic or electromagnetic force. Electrostatic ion thrusters use the Coulomb force and...
, using beams of ions accelerated electrically - Hall effect thrusterHall effect thrusterIn spacecraft propulsion, a Hall thruster is a type of ion thruster in which the propellant is accelerated by an electric field. Hall thrusters trap electrons in a magnetic field and then use the electrons to ionize propellant, efficiently accelerate the ions to produce thrust, and neutralize the...
, a type of ion thruster - Pulsed inductive thrusterPulsed inductive thrusterPulsed inductive thrusters are a form of ion thruster, used in spacecraft propulsion. A PIT uses perpendicular electric and magnetic fields to accelerate a propellant. A nozzle releases a puff of gas which spreads across a flat induction coil of wire about 1 meter across...
, a pulsed form of ion thruster - Magnetoplasmadynamic thrusterMagnetoplasmadynamic thrusterThe Magnetoplasmadynamic thruster is a form of electrically powered spacecraft propulsion which uses the Lorentz force to generate thrust...
, electric propulsion using the Lorentz force - Electrodeless plasma thrusterElectrodeless plasma thrusterThe electrodeless plasma thruster is a spacecraft propulsion engine. It was created by Mr. Gregory Emsellem based on technology developed by French Atomic Energy Commission scientist Dr Richard Geller and Dr...
, electric propulsion using ponderomotive force - Pulsed plasma thrusterPulsed plasma thrusterPulsed plasma thrusters are a method of spacecraft propulsion also known as Plasma Jet Engines in general. They use an arc of electric current adjacent to a solid propellant, to produce a quick and repeatable burst of impulse...
, using current arced across a solid propellant
Marine thrusters
- Azimuth thrusterAzimuth thrusterAn azimuth thruster is a configuration of ship propellers placed in pods that can be rotated in any horizontal direction, making a rudder unnecessary...
, pod underneath a ship, instead of a propeller and rudder - Bow thrusterBow thrusterA bow thruster is a transversal propulsion device built into, or mounted to, the bow of a ship or boat to make it more maneuverable. Bow thrusters make docking easier, since they allow the captain to turn the vessel to port or starboard without using the main propulsion mechanism which requires...
, on the bow of a ship
Others
- Thruster (surfing) is a surfboard fin design
- Shkadov thruster, hypothetical megascale reaction for moving a star
- HurryingHurryingA hurrier, also sometimes called a coal drawer or coal thruster, was a child or woman employed by a collier to transport the coal that they had mined. Women would normally get the children to help them because of the difficulty of carrying the coal...
, also called 'coal thrusting', a 19th century profession - Big Mother Thruster
- Plasma Thruster