Gearing Up for a Launch of a VASIMR Rocket at UVU

A Variable Specific Impulse Magnetohydrodynamic Rocket (VASMIR) uses two stages of radio frequency energy to excite and energize a plasma which is then channeled through a magnetic nozzle to develop thrust. The initial ionization is accomplished with a helicon antenna. The plasma thus created is confined along a magnetic field, and further energy is deposited with an ion cyclotron resonant frequency antenna (ICRH). Varying the power to these two antennae allows for varying the specific impulse and thrust of the rocket to adapt for different flight profiles. The concept was developed by former astronaut and plasma physicist Franklin Chan Diaz, who exploited the idea that a magnetic bottle could be used as a nozzle, letting the adiabatic invariance of the magnetic moment of an ion transfer kinetic energy perpendicular to the magnetic field to energy directed parallel to the field in the expanding plume of the rocket. A 200 kilowatt version of the rocket is currently under development by the Ad Astra Rocket Company