Scientists Are Getting Closer to a Better Source of Rocket Fuel: Good Ol' Water
While prototypes of water-powered rocket thrusters and engines have been developed before, and a few have succeeded in launching CubeSats, water has not yet been used as a propellant on a large scale.
Researchers involved in the WET Project are looking to create a thruster that can power a SmallSat, maybe even into deep space.
Eco-friendly alternatives to fossil fuels are venturing beyond Earth—and into space.
Most rocket fuels are based off fossil fuels, but these finite resources are also detrimental to the environment. Burning them releases monstrous amounts of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) and nitrogen oxides or ammonia (culprits behind smog and acid rain) into the atmosphere. NASA, ESA and other space agencies, as well as research groups at other institutions, have been trying to change that by swapping these fossil fuels for water.
Rocket thrusters powered by the hydrogen and oxygen in water do exist, and while NASA succeeded with using this kind of propulsion system to launch their PTD-1 CubeSat in 2021, water fuel has not yet been used on a large scale.
An international team of researchers led by the University of Bologna in Italy are now going to be developing a new type of electric thruster that runs off plasma generated from water. This endeavor, known as the WET (Water-Based Electric Thrusters) Project, will involve observing the formation and behavior of water-generated plasma in order to figure out how to create a thruster that does not rely on fossil fuels but will propel rockets through the air with just as much power, if not more.
'The WET project is not just about developing an innovative technology but also about creating a new vision for the future of space exploration,' Fabrizio Ponti, professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Bologna, said in a press release.
How is plasma even made from water? Plasma is often considered the fourth state of matter—after solids, liquids, and gases—and can be achieved through electrolysis. When water is heated by an electric current, it evaporates, but under extreme heat, the molecules in that water vapor will split into their hydrogen and oxygen components. Hydrogen and oxygen atoms will then become ions and electrons (the key ingredients of plasma) under higher heat.
Plasma is ionized, with an electric charge determined by the loss of electrons, since atomic nuclei at least one electron in the process. A certain amount of atoms needs to be ionized before a superheated substance can be called plasma. In rocket thrusters, the electrical energy produced from plasma formation creates kinetic thrust that blasts the rocket off into space.
NASA has been experimenting with electrolysis for rocket fuel since the late 1960s. In fact, a 1969 prototype rocket engine developed at the Glenn Research Center was said to have 'advantages over more conventional control systems, including high performance, safe materials, simple storage, long lifetime, and low power requirements.'
The University of Bologna plans to level up the equipment in its Alma Propulsion Laboratory in order to be able to conduct experiments and prove that their technology is viable. Though much of what will determine the upgraded aspects of the WET Project's thrusters has not yet been investigated, the researchers are planning to design one that operates at about 500-100 watts, which is the approximate range for small satellites called SmallSats. The new tech could potentially be used in deep space missions.
'Thanks to water, an eco-friendly and versatile propellant, unprecedented possibilities for deep-space exploration could open up, with particular attention to economic and environmental sustainability,' Ponti said.
There is another advantage to this kind of propellant—water is everywhere in space, so running out of fuel won't be an issue for the spacecraft of the future.
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