The 30 kWe Moscow Aviation Institute Thruster in the Steady State Low
Power Facility
Lithium Glow: Initially, the combination of a too cool
cathode and a too high lithium flow rate (wrong side of the Pashen curve)
would not allow us to establish an arc discharge. We did, however,
produce this beautiful lithium glow discharge.
The First MAI-LiLFA Firing! By increasing the current to the cathode heater, an incredibly bright and stable lithium arc was produced. The arc was maintained at 500 A discharge current, 20 Volts thruster voltage, and 20 mg/s lithium flow rate for just under 3 minutes. A minor short to one of the feed system heating lines ended the test.
