Pulsed inductive thrusters or PITs as they are commonly abbreviated are a form of spacecraft propulsion that uses perpendicular electric and magnetic fields to accelerate a propellant. A nozzle releases a puff of gas (usually argon) which spreads across a flat induction coil of wire about 1 meter across. A bank of capacitors releases a pulse of electric current lasting 10 microseconds into the coil, generating a radial magnetic field. This induces a circular electrical field in the gas, ionizing it and causing the ions to revolve in the opposite direction as the original pulse of current. Because their motion is perpendicular to the magnetic field, they are pushed out into space. A remote camera captures a close-up view of a Space Shuttle Main Engine during a test firing at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi Spacecraft propulsion is used to change the velocity of spacecraft and artificial satellites, or in short, to provide delta-v. ... In physics, an electric field or E-field is an effect produced by an electric charge that exerts a force on charged objects in its vicinity. ... Current flowing through a wire produces a magnetic field (M) around the wire. ... A propellant is a material that is used to move an object by applying a motive force. ... Rocket Nozzle A nozzle is a mechanical device designed to control the characteristics of a fluid flow as it exits from an enclosed chamber into some medium. ... General Name, Symbol, Number argon, Ar, 18 Chemical series noble gases Group, Period, Block 18 (VIIIA), 3, p Density, Hardness 1. ... The term induction coil, in current usage, usually refers to a passive electrical device used to produce high voltage pulses from a low voltage DC supply. ... A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, elongated strand of drawn metal. ... Various types of capacitors A capacitor (occasionally referred to using the older term condenser) is a device that stores energy in the electric field created between a pair of conductors on which equal but opposite electric charges have been placed. ... Electromagnetic induction is the production of an electrical potential difference (or voltage) across a conductor situated in a changing magnetic flux. ... An ion is an elementary particle or system of elementary particles with a net electric charge. ...

Unlike other electrostatic drives, PIT requires no electrodes (which are susceptible to erosion) and its power can be scaled up simply by increasing the number of pulses per second. A 1-megawatt system would pulse 200 times per second. An electrode is a conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e. ... The megawatt (symbol: MW) is a unit for measuring power corresponding to one million (106) watts. ...

See also

• Spacecraft propulsion
  • Ion thruster
    • Electrostatic ion thrusters
    • Hall effect thrusters
    • Field Emission Electric Propulsion
    • Pulsed inductive thruster