Status of the Extended Life Test of the Deep Space 1 Flight Spare Ion Engine After 30,000 Hours of Operation

Abstract

The extended life test (ELT) of the Deep Space 1 (DS1) spare flight ion thruster (FT2) was voluntarily terminated June 26th 2003. The test was started in Cotober of 1998, just prior to the launch of the DS1 spacecraft, with the primary purpose of determining the ultimate service life capability of the NASA 30-cm-ion thruster technology.