
Edgar BeringUniversity of Houston | U of H, UH · Department of Physics
Edgar Bering
Doctor of Philosophy
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157
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Publications (157)
The warming of Alaskas permafrost has been leading to thawing within its discontinuous permafrost. This can cause ice wedges to melt resulting in thermokarst formations such as sink holes and landslides which are causing damage to Alaskan infrastructure. To avoid developing further infrastructure in areas containing ice wedges, it is necessary to...
View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2022-0931.vid The Undergraduate Student Instrumentation (USIP) project at University of Houston (UH) is an educational initiative released by the NASA Science Mission Directorate that aims at engaging undergraduate students in the process of developing Earth and space science instruments for use in...
End-to-end testing of the VX-200 engine has been undertaken with an optimum magnetic field and in a vacuum facility with sufficient volume and pumping to permit exhaust plume measurements at low background pressures. Experimental results are presented with the VX-200 engine installed in a 150 m3 vacuum chamber with an operating pressure below 1 � 1...
Mission planners require mass values of electric propulsion systems with scaling formulas as a function of input power in order to develop full spacecraft mass models and mission architectures. We develop a simplified model for a complete VASIMR ® single-core spaceflight engine system called a TC-1. This model is valid in the power domain of 50 to...
Variations of vertical atmospheric electric field E z have been attributed mainly to meteorological processes. On the other hand, the theory of electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere, between the bottom ionosphere and earth’s surface, predicts two modes, magnetic H (TE) and electric E (TH) modes, where the E-mode has a vertical electric field comp...
The Undergraduate Student Instrumentation Project (USIP) was a NASA program to engage undergraduate students in rigorous scientific research, for the purposes of innovation and developing the next generation of professionals in space research. The program is student led and executed from initial ideation of research objectives to the design and dep...
We explore the capability of solar and hybrid solar-nuclear electric propulsion systems to send spacecraft to Saturn, Neptune and beyond. The purely solar-electric system performs a slingshot pass close to the Sun and uses the high level of available solar energy to produce a sustained burst of high thrust. Enough kinetic energy is provided to the...
Langmuir probes have been widely used for space plasma measurements for decades. However, there are still challenges in the interpretation of their measurements. Due to the interaction of the ambient plasma with a spacecraft and an onboard probe itself, the local plasma conditions around the probe could be very different from the true ambient plasm...
We use observations from the Imaging Science Subsystem on Cassini to create maps of Saturn's Northern Hemisphere (NH) from 2008 to 2015, a time period including a seasonal transition (i.e., Spring Equinox in 2009) and the 2010 giant storm. The processed maps are used to investigate vortices in the NH during the period of 2008-2015. All recorded vor...
Attempts have been made over the last decade to find the density and diversity of living microorganisms in the stratosphere using both air planes and zero pressure balloons. Most of the published attempts to survey stratospheric microorganisms by the scientific community have involved heavy devices that could not be used on ultralight weight balloo...
Understanding the physics involved in plasma detachment from magnetic nozzles is well theorized, but lacking in large scale experimental support. We have undertaken an experiment using the 150-m3 variable specific impulse magnetoplasma rocket test facility and VX-200 thruster seeking evidence that detachment occurs and an understanding of the physi...
The ionosphere's interactions with geomagnetic storms cause scattering effects on communication systems around the world. To quantify this dispersive effect, it has been shown that the concentration of oscillating electrons is directly proportional to the intensity of disruptive behavior in communication signals. This metric is called the Total Ele...
Extensive testing using the VASIMR® VX-200™ experiment at power levels up to 200 kW has established system DC-to-jet power performance while the injected-gas and plasma operated in steady-state conditions. The thruster efficiency, using argon propellant, ranges from 60% to 72% in the Isp domain of 3000 to 5000 s. These tests were performed using hi...
We explore the capability of a VASIMR® reusable probe "catapult" concept to send a 4000-5000 kg spacecraft to Jupiter on a Hohmann-like transfer orbit, arriving in just 36 months elapsed time. The VASIMR® performs a slingshot pass close to the Sun and uses the high level of available solar energy to produce a sustained burst of high thrust. Enough...
A mechanism for ambipolar ion acceleration in a magnetic nozzle is proposed. The plasma is adiabatic (i.e., does not exchange energy with its surroundings) in the diverging section of a magnetic nozzle so any energy lost by the electrons must be transferred to the ions via the electric field. Fluid theory indicates that the change in plasma potenti...
We describe a proposed laboratory-experiment research program that will answer the fundamental question: What is the role of reconnection in opening and closing the solar magnetic field? While attacking this question, we will also address the most important, long-standing questions on magnetic reconnection, in all contexts: What determines the rate...
Testing of the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket VX-200 engine was performed over a wide throttle range in a 150m3 vacuum chamber with sufficient pumping to permit exhaust plume measurements at argon background pressures less than 1x10-3Pa (1x10-5torr) during firings, ensuring charge-exchange mean free paths longer than the vacuum cham...
Mission planners require mass values of electric propulsion systems with scaling formulas as a function of input power in order to develop full spacecraft mass models and mission architectures. We develop a simplified model for a complete VASIMR® single-core spaceflight engine system called a TC-1. This model is valid in the power domain of 50 to 2...
Understanding the physics involved in plasma detachment from magnetic nozzles is well theorized but lacking in large scale experimental support. We have undertaken an experiment using the 150 m 3 VASIMR ® test facility and VX-200 thruster seeking evidence that detachment occurs and understanding of the physical processes involved. It was found that...
A mechanism for ambipolar ion acceleration in a magnetic nozzle is proposed. The plasma is adiabatic (i.e. transfers no heat to or from its surroundings) in the diverging section of a magnetic nozzle so any energy lost by the electrons must be transferred to the ions via the electric field. Fluid theory indicates that the change in average electron...
form only given. An observed 50 eV argon ion energy is attributed to a measured axial plasma potential profile within the expanding magnetic nozzle region of a 35 kW helicon plasma source. The ion acceleration mechanism is identified as an ambipolar flow caused by expanding plasma that follows the fluid equations using the adiabatic definition of p...
We describe a proposed laboratory-experiment research program that will answer the fundamental question: What is the role of reconnection in opening and closing the solar magnetic field? While attacking this question, we will also address the most important, long-standing questions on magnetic reconnection, in all contexts: What determines the rate...
Descriptions of the various plasma diagnostics and data analysis methods
are given for instruments used in high power (> 100 kW) electric
propulsion testing. These include planar Langmuir probes, an
articulating retarding potential analyzer, a double Langmuir probe, a
multi-axis magnetometer, a high frequency electric field probe,
microwave interfe...
Testing of the VX-200 engine was performed over a wide throttle range in a vacuum facility with sufficient volume and pumping to permit exhaust plume measurements at low background pressures and sufficiently large charge exchange mean free paths. Experimental results are presented with the VX-200 engine installed in a 150 m3 vacuum chamber with an...
On 20 January 2005, a solar energetic particle (SEP) event caused the
largest recorded solar proton ground level event since 1956.
Serendipitously, a balloon-borne experiment intended to measure effects
of relativistic electron precipitation was aloft over Antarctica
(˜32 km near 70°S, 345°E geographic) throughout the
duration of the SEP event, inc...
The present aerospace engineering and science workforce is ageing. It is
not clear that the US education system will produce enough qualified
replacements to meet the need in the near future. Unfortunately, by the
time many students get to high school, it is often too late to get them
pointed toward an engineering or science career. Since some coll...
This paper will describe the laboratory application of the lessons
learned from the study of wave particle interactions in the auroral
upward current region to the industrial development problem of electric
spacecraft propulsion. The VAriable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma
Rocket (VASIMR°) has been developed by using the results of space
plasma exp...
Theories of magnetized plasma detachment in an expanding magnetic field
have been lacking detailed experimental evidence. Recent experiments
using a 200 kW class electric rocket (VX-200), run at 100 kW using argon
and a peak magnetic field of 2 T, produced ion energies greater than 100
eV with a flux of 2x10^22 ions/s in a 150 m^3 vacuum facility....
Recent exhaust plume measurements and plasma physics results are discussed related to the development of the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR®) VX-200 engine, a 200 kW flight-technology prototype. Results from high power Helicon only and Helicon with ICH experiments are presented from the VX-200 using argon propellant. Total V...
End-to-end testing of the VX-200 engine was performed with an optimum magnetic field and in a vacuum facility with sufficient volume and pumping to permit exhaust plume measurements at low background pressures. Experimental results are presented with the VX-200 engine installed in a 150 m3 vacuum chamber with an operating pressure below 1x10-3 Pa (...
The thruster efficiency and the thrust of a high power the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) prototype have been measured with the thruster installed inside a vacuum chamber with sufficient volume and pumping to simulate the vacuum conditions of space. Using an ion flux probe array and a PMFS, the exhaust of the VX-200 engine...
The helicon plasma stage in the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR®) VX-200i device was used to characterize an axial plasma potential profile within an expanding magnetic nozzle region of the laboratory based device. The ion acceleration mechanism is identified as an ambipolar electric field produced by an electron pressure gra...
®) VX-200 engine, a 200 kW flight-technology prototype. Results from high power Helicon only and Helicon with ICH experiments are presented from the VX-200 using argon propellant. Total VX-200 system efficiencies are presented from recent results with greater than 100 kW of RF power, and extrapolation from an empirical fit shows greater than 60% ef...
The VASIMR® Flight Experiment (VF-200-1) will be tested in space aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in about four years. It will consist of two 100 kW parallel plasma engines with opposite magnetic dipoles, resulting in a near zero-torque magnetic system. Electrical energy will come from ISS at low power level, be stored in batteries and...
Recent progress is discussed in the development of an advanced RF electric propulsion
engine: the VAriable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR®) VX-200, a 200
kW flight-technology prototype. Results are presented from first stage only and first stage
with booster stage experiments that were performed on the VX-200 using between 60 mg/s
an...
The performance of a 200 kW VASIMR engine has been experimentally measured. The high-power design was developed to test critical technologies and to provide performance measurements at power levels, magnetic field strengths, and configurations applicable to a light unit. The VX-200 demonstrated the capability to operate with a total of 200 kW DC po...
The VAriable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket VASIMR ® is a high power electric spacecraft propulsion system, capable of I sp / thrust modulation at constant power F. R. Chang Díaz et al., Proceedings of the 39th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Reno, NV, 8–11 Jan. 2001. The VASIMR ® uses a helicon discharge to generate plasma. Thi...
Recent exhaust plume measurements and plasma physics results are discussed related to the development of the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR®) VX-200 engine, a 200 kW flight-technology prototype. Results from high power Helicon only and Helicon with ICH experiments are presented from the VX-200 using argon propellant. A two-a...
Measuring the parameters of the atmospheric circuit with hourly and daily time resolution is difficult to achieve and demonstrate. However, a relationship between Vi, the ionosphere-to-ground potential difference, and Ez, the near-ground-level vertical electric field, has been demonstrated for measurements at the Antarctic plateau site at Vostok (7...
The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR®) is an electric propulsion system under development at Ad Astra Rocket Company that utilizes several processes of ion acceleration and heating that occur in the Birkeland currents of an auroral arc system. Among these processes are parallel electric field acceleration, lower hybrid resonan...
A superconducting Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR®) experiment (VX-200) is in operation. This device demonstrates the spaceflight relevant VASIMR® technology at the 200 kW electrical power level, from DC to plasma jet. The VX-200 is a two stage system using a helicon for plasma production and ion cyclotron heating for the pri...
The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR®) is a high power electric space propulsion engine, capable of Isp/thrust modulation at constant input power. The plasma is produced by a helicon discharge. The bulk of the energy is added by ion cyclotron heating (ICH.) Axial momentum is obtained by adiabatic expansion of the plasma in a m...
An observed 20 eV argon ion energy is attributed to a measured axial plasma potential
profile within the expanding magnetic nozzle region of the Variable Specific Impulse
Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR®) VX-200i device, a 10% field version of the VX-200
prototype. The ion acceleration mechanism is identified as an ambipolar flow caused by
expanding p...
A 200 kW VASIMR R engine designed specifically to demonstrate the end-to-end DC electrical power conversion to thrust power has undergone initial testing in a new vac-uum facility and successfully operated with a low temperature superconducting magnet, two solid-state RF generators, and improved RF coupler designs. This engine is given the name VX-...
The accuracy of a plasma impact force sensor was compared to that of the more commonly used inverted pendulum thrust stand using a 5 kW Xe Hall thruster. A plasma momentum flux sensor (PMFS) was designed and constructed based on a previous NASAMarshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) design. Real-time force measurements were made with both the PMFS and...
The 2nd Polar Patrol Balloon campaign (2nd-PPB) was carried out at Syowa Station in Antarctica during 2002–2003. Identical stratospheric balloon payloads were launched as close together in time as allowed by weather conditions to constitute a cluster of balloons during their flights. A very pronounced negative ion conductivity enhancement was obser...
The accuracy of a plasma impact force sensor was compared to that of the more commonly used inverted pendulum thrust stand using a 5 kW Xe Hall effect thruster (HET). An improved plasma momentum flux sensor (PMFS) was designed and constructed based on a previous design. Real-time force measurements were made with both the PMFS and the inverted pend...
The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR™) is a high power magnetoplasma rocket, capable of Isp/thrust modulation at constant power. The plasma is produced by a helicon discharge. The bulk of the energy is added by ion cyclotron region heating (ICRH.) Axial momentum is obtained by adiabatic expansion of the plasma in a magnetic no...
Many United States, school children perceive science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as difficult, boring and often irrelevant subjects. The possible reasons for this problem are endlessly debated. However, the economic, social, and overall national importance of producing graduates who are technically literate and enthusiastic in...
The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket is an electric propulsion system under development at Ad Astra Rocket Company that utilizes several processes of ion acceleration and heating that occur in the Birkeland currents of an auroral arc system. Among these processes are parallel electric field acceleration, lower hybrid resonance heating...
Recent results from the operation of a 125 cubic meter space simulation chamber are presented. The primary role of the vacuum chamber is to support the operation of the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR), a high power magnetoplasma rocket, capable of Isp/thrust modulation at constant power. However, magnetospheric and heliosphe...
Recent progress is discussed in the development of an advanced RF electric propulsion concept: the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) VX-200 engine, a 200 kW flight-technology prototype. Results from high power Helicon only and Helicon with ICRH experiments are performed on the VX-200 using argon plasma. Recent measurements of...
The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) is a high
power magnetoplasma rocket, capable of Isp/thrust modulation at constant
power. The plasma is produced by a helicon discharge. The bulk of the
energy is added by ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH.) Axial
momentum is obtained by adiabatic expansion of the plasma in a magnetic...
The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR™) is a high power magnetoplasma rocket, capable of Isp/thrust modulation at constant power. The plasma is produced by a helicon discharge. The bulk of the energy is added by ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH.) Axial momentum is obtained by adiabatic expansion of the plasma in a magnetic...
Statistically significant (at the 95% significance level) changes in daily cloud cover are found to occur globally over land coincident with extreme increases in [`]fair-weather' measurements of vertical electric field (Ez) measured at Vostok, Antarctica. Using global cloud products from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP)...
On January 20, 2005 there was an X 7.1 solar flare at 0636 UT with an accompanied halo coronal mass ejection (CME). The resultant interplanetary shock impacted earth ∼36 h later. Near earth, the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft observed two impulses with a staircase structure in density and pressure. The estimated earth-arrival times...
Plasma physics has found an increasing range of practical industrial applications, including the development of electric spacecraft propulsion systems. One of these systems, the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) engine, both applies several important physical processes occurring in the magnetosphere. These processes include th...
The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR™) is a high power magnetoplasma rocket, capable of Isp/thrust modulation at constant power. The plasma is produced by a helicon discharge. The bulk of the energy is added by ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH.) Axial momentum is obtained by adiabatic expansion of the plasma in a magnetic...