AIAA-81-0725

EM1 Test Chamber for Ion

Engine Mounted on Satellite
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H. Azuma, National Space

Development Agency, Japan;
Y. Nakamura, National
Aerospace Lab, Japan;
I. Kudo, Electrotechnical Lab,
r/
Japan; and M Kubo and
T. Sasaki, Toshiba Corp., Japan

AIAA/JSASS/DGLR 15th
International Electric
.
JO'hAntiirrt to)
________
Propulsion Conference
1981
April 21-23, 1981 / Las Vegas, Nevada
For permission to copy or republish, contact the American InstiUte of Aeronautics and Astronautics * 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10104
 EM1 TEST CHAMBER FOR ION ENGINE MOUNTED ON SATELLITE
HisaO Azuma *1
National Space Development Agency, Japan
Isao Kudo* 3
Electrotechnical Laboratory, Japan
Abstract
A novel type of space chamber to
verify the "Electro Magnetic Interference'
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(EMI) characteristics of ion engine system
which i s mounted on a satellite has been
developed. The EM1 test of the ion engine
using mercury propellant at spacecraft
system level can be done with it without
contamination, without other propellant
material, without obstruction of electro-
magnetic wave, and without fragility of
vessel. The EM1 test of the satellite with
ion engine showed that it maintained the
pressure to the order of torr. during
J
the ion engine operation with the test ob-
jectives successfully fulfilled.
I. Introduction
l%3
The ion engine system on board a
satellite may affects other on-board equip-
ments with its electromagnetic radiation as
well as its noise on power line. The
"Electro Magnetic Interference" (EMI) test
of the satellite system fully assembled is
therefore hportant for the sapcecraft with
the ion engine.
The discussion below refers to the
difficulties of the verification of EM1
characteristics of ion engine in the state
of being mounted on the satellite.
*1 Assistant Senior Engineer, Member JSASS; * 2 Principal Research Officer, Member AIAA;
*3 Senior Research Stuff, Member JSASS; * 4 Chief Engineer, Member JSAP; * 5 Assistant to
/
Manager, Member JSASS
Cowright 0American Institute of Aaronaulirs and
1
A s t i ~ n * ~ l l cInc..
~ , 1981. All rights reserved.
Yoshihiro Nakamura * 2
National Aerospace Laboratory, Japan
Moritada Kubo*$nd Tatsuo Sasaki* 5
Toshiba Corporation, Japan
(1) EM1 test of only single ion engine
at component or subsystem level separately
from space craft in a small vacuum chamber
is not enough to verify the EM1 character-
istics of the ion engine at spacecraft
system level.
( 2 ) The ion engine system uses mercury
as propellant. It is impracticable to per-
form the EM1 test at spacecraft level in
vaouum with an ordinary large space cham-
ber, because it would cause the contami-
nation of the other on-board equipments and
the inside of the space chamber with
mercury.
( 3 ) It is conceivable to verify the EM1
characteristics of the ion engine with
xenon gas, instead of mercury, as propel-
lant in an ordinary large space chamber at
spacecraft level with other subsystems on-
board, however, a problem as to the equiva-
lency exists.
( 4 ) The EM1 test of the ion engine
before launch must be made in a vacuum. It
can be made only with a vacuum vessel. A
metal chamber, however, obstructs the pro-
pagation of electromagnetic waves and
reflects them. It can not simulate the
actual space.
 ( 5 ) A vacuum vessel made of glass allows
transmission of the electromagnetic radia-
tion, but there is no experience in manu-
facturing of a glass vessel enough large
for'satellite system test. The fragility
of glass chamber would be unavoidable.
A novel type of space chamber was
thought out in order to solve the problems
mentioned above. The EM1 test of the ion
engine using mercury propellant mounted on
the satellite with other subsystems at
spacecraft system level can be done with
it without contamination, without other
propellant material, without obstruction of
electromagnetic wave, and without fragility
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of vessel. The solution is that the ion
engine mounted on the satellite can be
covered with a demountable vacuum vessel
attached tight to the outer surface of the
satellite. The vessel is made of "Fiber
Reinforced Plastic" (FRP) .
The EM1 te5t of the satellite with ion
engine showed that it maintained the pres-
sure to the order of torr. during the
ion engine operation with the test objec-
tives successfully fulfilled.
The purpose of this paper is to de-
scribe system design, configuration and
performance of the EM1 test chamber newly
Table 1 System Trade off on Test Chamber
Chamber Material
Ion Engine Fuel Material
Satellite System Test 0 0
Contamination on Satellite o x
EM1 Noize Similarity
EM Wave Transparency
EM1 Test of Satellite x o
Fragility of Chamber x x
2
developed for the satellite equipped with
mercury ion engine.
11. System Design W
No test facilities for the EM1 test on
the whole satellite equipped with the ion
engine had been developed. Several difficul-
ties mentioned above had been known to re-
alize the EM1 test before the launch of the
satellite with ion engine.
Several types of concepts of test
facilities and their trade off are shown in
Figure 1 and Table 1.
( A ) Large metal chamber can contain the
whole satellite with ion engine. The metal
wall of the chamber, however, reflects the
electromagnetic radiation from the ion
engine. The other on board equipments also
receive this reflected radiation. The mer-
cury ion beam is also reflected by the wall
of the chamber and deposited on the surface
of the satellite as contamination.
( B ) Xenon as the propellant material of
the ion engine instead of mercury do not \i
contaminate the satellite. Large glass
chamber is transparent for the electro-
magnetic radiation from the ion engine. The
~
0 X X
X 0 0 O
0 I
X X X 0
0 0 0 0
v
 glass chamber in an anechoic chamber simu-
lates the actual flight condition for
electromagnetic wave reflection.
Xenon ion beam, however, can not
v radiate the identical noise both in energy
and in frequency spectrum with that from
mercury ion beam.
The large glass chamber i s very frag-
ile and expensive. The experience of the
construction of large glass chamber had
not yet beem there.
( C ) Small metal chamber is easy to make
and not so expensive. Measurement of noise
radiated from the ion engine at the outside
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of the chamber is impossible. The EM1 test
on the whole satellite with ion engine can
of course, not be performed.
(B) On Board Equipment
Largs
(C 1 Anechoic Camber
L '\,
i
Fig. I System Trade Off
3
(D) Small glass chamber can be made and
is not expensive. The measurement of noise
radiation from the ion engine contained
with glass chamber in an anechoic chamber
can be carried out at the out side of the
camber. The EM1 characteristics of whole
satellite with ion engine can not be
verified. Other on board equipments which
must be mounted close to the ion engine
can not be tested with the actual EM1 con-
ditions.
( E ) A small demountable FRP chamber in
an anechoic chamber can simulate the
actual flight condition in the space. The
size of chamber large enough to simulate
the free space without wall for ion beam
is thought to be about one meter in dia-
Gloss
Chamber
Anechoic
Anechoic
._.
Condition [b Mercury
Ion Beam
Line N o i s e q
Electro
On Board Equipment Magnetic
 meter. Glass chamber of such size is too
large to make in the engineering sense.
FRP wall of the chamber is transparent
for the electro magnetic radiation from
the ion engine and does not reflect it.
A l l on board equipment5 including those
which must be close to the ion engine can
be mounted on the satellite for the EM1
test. Whole satellite with ion engine is
tested on EM1 without any contamination on
its surface.
(F) Actual flight condition in the space
after the launch of the satellite is ideal
for measuring of EM1 noise in the nonprac-
tical sense. The verification test of EM1
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characteristics of satellite before launch
is important to find the point to be mended.
Both the situation of on board equip-
ments, from the view point o f EM1 noise, in
the case (E) and (F) are equivalent as
shown in Figure 1.
The results of the system trade off
are summerized in Table 1. Large size
chamber contained the whole satellite can
be used for system test. Small but de-
mountable chamber can be connected on the
surface of satellite with the ion engine
outside of only which is covered by the
chamber to perform the system EM1 test.
Xenon propellant material does not
contaminate the satellite. N O contamination
is there outside of small or demountable
chamber which does not contain the satel-
lite. Xenon ion beam is not identical to
the mercury ion beam both in energy and in
frequency spectrum. Small metal chamber
reflects the noise radiation inside. Small
glass chamber is ideal except for the on
board equipment which must be mounted close
to the ion engine.
Most important problem left to the pre-
liminary design is the characteristics of
FRP in a high vacuum as the material of ion
engine test chamber wall.
The concept of demountable small FRP
chamber is seemed to be optimum for the EM1
test of whole satellite with ion engine as
the result of system design.
111. Preliminary Design
The parameters important in the design
of the test chamber are the quantity of the \1/
gas released from FRP in a vacuum and its
composition especially during mercury ion
bombardment on the surface of FRP.
The "Bread Board Model" (BBM) of FRP
chamber shaped as bell jar was made and
tested for measuring on the releasing rate
of gas from FRP and on the composition of
the gas released in order to get the basic
data for detailed design.
The releasing rate was measured by
three methods i.e.
(i) conductance method,
(ii) pumping speed method, and
(iii) build-up method
on FRP models after treatment with each one
of the following five process
(a) no processing
(b) degreasing and cleaning
(c) returning to atmospheric pressure
with dry nitrogen gas
(d) returning to atmospheric pressure
with ambient air and ii
(e) baking at 80 degree C.
The results of BBM test measured as
mentioned above are shown in Figure 2
where the data ( A ) group obtained by the
conductance method reveals mainly that
there is the release of adsorbed gas on the
surface of FRP from ambient air during ex-
posure which is supposed to be water
vapour, and the efficacy of the treatment
with the process (e) i.e. baking at 80
degree C. The cluster of data ( B ) shows
the order of releasing rate of gas from
the surface of FRP measured after the
treatment with the process (e) comparing
with the data ( A ' ) by conductance method
without baking process quoted from the
reference literature4 .
It was shown by residual gas analysis
in the BBM test that 96% of the gas re-
leased from FRP was water vapour fi.e.
molecular weight of 1 8 ) . This result
elucidates the efficacy of the baking pro-
v
cess (e).
 Similar result was also obtained by
the residual gas analysis in the BBM test
of FRP chamber with argon ion bombardment
on the surface of FRP.
The pressure during the ion bombard-
ment was 1.2 x l o - ' torr. while it was
1.0 x l o ' . ' torr. before the bombardment.
The quantity of gas released from FRP by
the ion bombardment is not thought to be a
serious problem.
The value of 2.5 x lo-' torr. t / s cm2
obtained after baking was adopted as the
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Releasing rote
(A) by conductance method
Exposure as received, to ambient for 44
hours
Exposure to ambient for 16 hours after
removal of grease
Exposure to dry N:! for 1 hour after
removal of greose
Exposure to ambient for 14 hours after
removal of grease
After boklng for 5 hours fOllOWlng
removal of greose
5
gas releasing rate. Water vapour was the
principal component of the released gas.
These mentioned above were obtained
as the results of the BBM test.
The system design of EM1 test chamber
concluded that the concept of demountable
FRP small chamber was optimum but the
problem of FRP characteristics in a high
vacuum with ion bomberdment on it was left
to the preliminary design.
It is a consequence of preliminary
design that FRP is suitable for the wall
- 1 5 7
Time in hour
tA)Data from reference documents
* Big block (180cm2)
A Big block (Exposure to ambient
for 24 hours
Big block (Exposure to dry N 2
for 3 minutes
(E) After baking for 5 hours
6, after removal of grease
Conductance Method
x Pumping speed Method
A 6uiLd -up Method
Pressure in B B M
 material of the demountable EM1 test cham-
ber with the baking process before the use.
The concept of demountable FRP cham-
ber for EM1 test of whole satellite equip-
ped with the ion engine is therefore
thought to be feasible.
to the MIL-C-9084 Type VI11 was selected.
The flow diagram of the EMItestcham-
ber is shown in Figure 3 . Main evacuation
is done with a cryopump. It can condense
and trap the gas of which condensation v
temperature is higher than that of liquid
helium. An oil diffusion pump is used to

IV. Design of Test Chamber

Partial Pressure
The specification of vacuum pump and
of chamber wall material was selected.
The configuration of demountable FRP by D P o r CP
I
chamber for EM1 test was designed.
The main vacuum pump for the EM1 test
Pressure
1.71 x 1 0 - 6 1.33 x lo-6 1.44 x
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chamber was selected with the calculation

of pumping speed and of the ultimate pres-
Pressure 1.26 x
by Hg ion 1.26 x toF6 1.26 X
sure based on the gas releasing rate data c collector
of FRP as the result of BBM test mentioned
0

.-E Partial Pressure 6:1 5.,9

** to-6 6,08
t
,o-6
before. by DP or CP
m
Table 2 shows the calculated pumping c
speed. The calculated ultimate pressure of 2 Ultlmate 9.45~ 6.45 x 7.34 x
Pressure
the EM1 test chamber with the ion engine
in it, at the cases of operation and ion Table3 Comparison of Ultimate Pressures
engine off, is shown in Table 3.
The pressure of chamber in which ion '
engine is in operation is the order of ( OP : Oil diifusion pump, C P : Cryopump I ' i
torr. Oil diffusion pump was not practical
considering the anechoic chamber condition,
size and cost. Fig.3 Flow diagram of EM1
The mechanical characteristics of FRP test chamber Cy1 indev
are shown in Table 4 . The specification of
FRP for chamber wall material conformable

s e c - l )Effective pumping Effectlve pumplng

speed at pumping speed at center o f
outlet of chamber chamber

Mercury Ion
collector cooled by - 15080
liquid nitrogen

O i l diffusion pump 2436 2087

l ESV- 4 5 0 0 5 X 2 1
~

Oil diffuslon pump 4254 3292

l E S V - 75005 X 2 I
-
Cryo pump 3483 2811
l CRYO-Ut6Sxl)
.
 evacuate hydrogen gas which can not be
trapped by cryopump. Liquid nitrogen is
supplied from LNz tank with the pressure
- of nitrogen gas from a cylinder.
The demountable FRP chamber for E M 1
test of whole satellite with the ion
engine was designed to be similar to the
conventional space chamber. The top end of
the cone shaped FRP vacuum vessel was,
however, designed as it can be connected
with the surface panel of satellite on
which the ion engine is mounted with a
flange vacuum tightly and to be demount-
able.
A test sample is set at the center of
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the vacuum vessel in the case of an ordi-
nary thermal vacuum test chamber. The gas
released from the sample to be tested is
usually pumped out with main pump and trap-
ped on the shrouds cooled by liquid nitro-
gen installed along the inside of chamber
wall. Metal shrouds surrounding the test
sample reflect the noise radiation from
it. Such shrouds are not to be installed
in the EM1 test chamber because of the
similarity to the space in the EM1 condi-
J
Table4 Mechanical
7
tion of actual space flight. No metal
articles are not to be attached both in-
side and outside of the FRP chamber in
order to keep the anechoic condition of
the electromagnetic radiation.
Wooden framework with caster was used
to avoid the reflection of noise radiation
from the ion engine and to make both the
manual work of test chamber attachement to
and detachment from the satellite to be
tested with ease.
The mercury ion collector, consisting
of a liquid nitrogen reservoir with fins
fixed with the angle of 4 5 degree, was
placed right in front of the ion engine in
order to trap the mercury ion which
directly strikes its cooled surface.
The configuration of EM1 test chamber
designed is shown in Figure 4 .
The base plate of the ion engine is
joined to the flange at the top of cone
shaped chamber with the gasket for vacuum
tight seal. All EM1 test chamber system
can be detached from the satellite tested
after the EM1 test of it.
character of FRP
 The specification of the EM1 test
chamber designed is shown in Table 5. V. Performance

The EM1 test chamber had been develop-

ed and measured its performance. It was V
Fig.4 Schematic diagram of the EM1 used actual EM1 test of Japanese Engineer-
test chamber
FRP SUS304
Table 5 EM1 test chamber system

Item Function. Performance 1 Remarks I

Size of vessel
Cylinder :i000+, ~OOOL
FRP Portion {Cone : iM)0+.200+,740L
SUS Portion Cylinder: iOOO+,iOtOL
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SOO+, Liquid nitrogen

Mercury collector reservoirlank with fins
fixed at on inclination of 45"

Pumping
speed : N2 5000 Llsec
H2 10000 l l s e c 20ov,
Cry0 pump
Ar 4 2 0 0 L l s e c 5.6KW
H20 160001lsec

Fig.5 Pump-down curve 600 l / s 200V. 0.85kW

)I1 diffusion pump

Rotary pump 250 L l r n i n ZCQV, 0.35KW

.i
Rotary pump 800 L l m i n ZOOV, t.5KW

L N 2 tank 50 1

Support Wooden, with caster

Fig. 6 Pumping speed of cryopump

Time in hour Pressure In torr W

 ing Test Satellite-I11 (ETS-I111 equipped
with the ion engine in the Engineering
Model (EM1 phase.
Figure 5 shows both the pressure
change (solid iinel and the ion collector
v
temperature change (broken line1 as func-
tions of time. A vacuum of 5 x lo-' torr.
and 4 x torr. were achieved when the
ion engine tested was not in operation and
in operation respectively.
The results obtained in the evacua-
tion test were essentially similar to the
values designed.
Figure 6 shows the pumping speed of
cryo pump for nitrogen gas, as a function
of time, measured without the ion engine.
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The pumping speed was approximately 3000
a/s.
The results of residual gas analysis
obtained in the preliminary experiment on
the BBM of FRP chamber and in the perform-
ance tests of FRP chamber for the EM1 test
of satellite manufactured are shown in
Table6 R e s u l t s of Residual gas a n a l y s i s
--
I E E : Ion englne
LNz : Liquid Nltrogen
Table 6. The molecular weight number 18,
namely water, represents a major of the gas
released from FRP. No gas that could cause
trouble with the ion engine was observed
under almost all conditions. The residual
gas composition measured in the case of IEE
ON and LN2 O N , i.e. the ion engine is in
operation and liquid nitrogen is in the ion
collector, seems to be the gas released
from the ion engine and from the ion
collector.
VI. Conclusion
The blanc test of FRP chamber without
the ion engine indicated that the minimum
pressure attained was 2 Y lo-' torr.
The EM1 test of the Engineering Model
of the Japanese satellite ETS-111 with the
ion engine in operation showed that it
maintained the pressure in the order of
lo-' torr. with the test objectives succes-
sfully fulfilled.
References
1 . Y. Nakamura/ A I A A International 12th
Electric Propulsion Conf. (19761,
Preprint No. 1046.
2. Y. Kuroda: AIAA/DGLR 13th Internat'l
Electric Propulsion Conf. (19781,
Paper No. 78-715.
3. E. Stuhlinger: A&A (April 19781 pp66.
4. J. Santhanam; Vacuum, Vol. 28, No.8
(19781 pp365.