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Development of a Cold Gas Propulsion System for the ... - SSL - MIT

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4.1.2 Rocket <strong>Propulsion</strong> Equations<br />

Like all <strong>for</strong>ms <strong>of</strong> rocket propulsion, a cold gas thruster produces thrust by converting <strong>the</strong> internal energy<br />

<strong>of</strong> a gas to kinetic energy in an exhaust flow by means <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>rmodynamic expansion in a nozzle [28]. As<br />

propellant mass is ejected from <strong>the</strong> thruster at high speeds in <strong>the</strong> exhaust flow, thrust is produced in <strong>the</strong><br />

opposite direction to ensure conservation <strong>of</strong> momentum <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> system. Thrust is also produced by any<br />

difference between <strong>the</strong> exhaust pressure and <strong>the</strong> ambient pressure. In equation <strong>for</strong>m:

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