Thrust Stand Measures Thrusts of

The development of miniature, cold- gas thrusters for on-orbit propulsion of such small devices as remotely piloted cameras and for inclusion in astronaut propulsion backpacks gave rise to a need to measure thrusts ranging from 0.04 to 0.8 lb (0.2 to 3.6 N). In addition, there was a need to measure thrust in a vacuum environment as well as in air at a pressure of 1 atmosphere (0.1 MPa), and over a wide range of propellant inlet pressures. The primary obstacle to be overcome for such measurements was to solve the problem of delivering the cold-gas propellant (compressed nitrogen gas) to the thruster without affecting thrust measurements, particularly those below 1/4 lb (1 N).