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The below link is a VASIMR article in Aerospace America's July-Aug 2009 issue (journal of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics).
Link....(PDF)
According to this article Ad Astra has already tested the VF-200 flight engine at 149.2 kw of its 200 kw capacity, or 74.6% power.
The VASIMR plasma rocket, almost identical to Star Trek's impulse drive, is to be tested on the ISS in the 2010-2012 time frame. NASA's signed the contracts and Ad Astra Rocket is testing the flight hardware now.
The ISS mission tests will include using the 'small' VF-200 (200 kw) VASIMR for re-boosting the ISS's orbit after it decays to a given altitude. Previously this required the Shuttle, a Soyuz or some other spacecraft using a chemical rocket as ISS has no drive engines of its own.
The delivery to ISS is not likely to be on the remaining shuttle flights which end next year, so most likely it'll be sent up in either the ESA or Japanese cargo modules or a SpaceX Falcon 9 flight. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, has hinted this may be the case.
Megawatt-class VASIMR's could turn a year long flight to Mars into a 39 day trip. Lower power = a longer trip, but with VASIMR accelerating the ship continuously for half the trip and braking for the other half it'll be far quicker than any 3-10 minute chemical rocket boost & coast regardless.
In terms of efficiency; the specific impulse (efficiency) of a chemical rocket maxes out at about 450 (more typically 300-400) while VASIMR can achieve 30,000+ and it's variable - you can get high thrust/low efficiency or low thrust/high efficiency and most any setting in between. Not even close.
Link....(PDF)
According to this article Ad Astra has already tested the VF-200 flight engine at 149.2 kw of its 200 kw capacity, or 74.6% power.
The first stage’s 30 kW and the second stage’s 170 kW combine to produce the full 200 kW of power. As of this writing, the VX-200 has achieved a record total power of 149.2 kW in tests. In contrast to a chemical multistaged rocket, in the VASIMR both stages fire nearly simultaneously.
The ISS mission tests will include using the 'small' VF-200 (200 kw) VASIMR for re-boosting the ISS's orbit after it decays to a given altitude. Previously this required the Shuttle, a Soyuz or some other spacecraft using a chemical rocket as ISS has no drive engines of its own.
The delivery to ISS is not likely to be on the remaining shuttle flights which end next year, so most likely it'll be sent up in either the ESA or Japanese cargo modules or a SpaceX Falcon 9 flight. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, has hinted this may be the case.
Megawatt-class VASIMR's could turn a year long flight to Mars into a 39 day trip. Lower power = a longer trip, but with VASIMR accelerating the ship continuously for half the trip and braking for the other half it'll be far quicker than any 3-10 minute chemical rocket boost & coast regardless.
In terms of efficiency; the specific impulse (efficiency) of a chemical rocket maxes out at about 450 (more typically 300-400) while VASIMR can achieve 30,000+ and it's variable - you can get high thrust/low efficiency or low thrust/high efficiency and most any setting in between. Not even close.
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