Full title: Overview of the development and application of electric propulsion for the Power and Propulsion Element to enable the buildup of the Deep Space Gateway and Transport

Dr. Daniel A. Herman
Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) Project Ion Propulsion System Lead
NASA Glenn Research Center

For missions beyond low Earth orbit, spacecraft size and mass can be dominated by onboard chemical propulsion systems and propellants that may constitute more than 50 percent of spacecraft mass. This impact can be substantially reduced through the utilization of Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) due to its significantly higher specific impulse. Studies performed for NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) and Science Mission Directorate (SMD) have demonstrated that a 40 kW-class SEP capability can be enabling for both near term and future architectures and science missions. Since 2012 NASA has been developing a 14 kW Hall thruster electric propulsion string that can serve as the building block for a 40 kW-class SEP capability. NASA continues to evolve a beyond low-Earth orbit human exploration approach and, where practical, in a manner involving international, academic, and industry partners. This seminar will provide an overview of the current NASA human exploration vision and challenges focusing on the implementation of electric propulsion on the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE), which is planned to be the first element of a Lunar Orbital Platform – Gateway. The seminar will also provide overviews of electric propulsion and the current NASA high-power electric propulsion system developments.

About the speaker...

Dr. Dan Herman received Undergrad and Graduate Degrees and, eventually, his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2005 under the tutelage of Prof. Alec Gallimore. He has been performing electric propulsion system research and development for 17 years. His thesis focused on internal ion thruster discharge plasma characterizations to understand and mitigate discharge cathode erosion in NSTAR and NEXT ion thrusters. He has been employed by the NASA Glenn

Research Center (GRC) in the Electric Propulsion Systems Branch for 12 years leading electric propulsion R&D projects. He performed critical verification test activities for the NEXT ion thruster system development including leading the long-duration wear test and system testing. He led the NASA GRC and JPL in-house 12.5kW Hall thruster system development and contract oversight for the Advanced Electric Propulsion system (AEPS) contract.
He is currently the Electric Propulsion Subsystem Lead for NASA’s Solar Electric Propulsion Project that is developing, qualifying, and demonstrating on-orbit an advanced, high-power electric propulsion system capability that is enabling to an affordable human exploration path to Mars. He is also the Electric Propulsion Subsystem Lead for the Power and Propulsion Element planned to be the first element of the Lunar Orbital Platform – Gateway.