Editing Pulsed inductive thruster (section)

== Advantages ==

Unlike an [[electrostatic ion thruster]] which uses an [[electric field]] to accelerate only one [[Chemical species|species]] (positive ions), a PIT uses the Lorentz body force acting upon all charged particles within a quasi-neutral plasma. Unlike most other ion and plasma thrusters, it also requires no [[electrode]]s (which are susceptible to erosion) and its power can be scaled up simply by increasing the number of pulses per second. A 1-[[megawatt]] system would pulse 200 times per second.

Pulsed inductive thrusters can maintain constant [[specific impulse]] and thrust efficiency over a wide range of input power levels by adjusting the pulse rate to maintain a constant discharge energy per pulse. It has demonstrated efficiency greater than 50%.<ref name="NuPIT">{{cite conference|last1= Frisbee|first1= Robert H.|last2= Mikellides|first2=Ioannis G.|title= The Nuclear-Electric Pulsed Inductive Thruster (NuPIT): Mission Analysis for Prometheus|date= July 2005|conference= 41st AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit|location= Tucson, Arizona|url=https://trs.jpl.nasa.gov/bitstream/handle/2014/38357/05-1846.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://trs.jpl.nasa.gov/bitstream/handle/2014/38357/05-1846.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|accessdate=July 4, 2017}}</ref>

Pulsed inductive thrusters can use a wide range of gases as a propellant, such as [[water]], [[hydrazine]], [[ammonia]], [[argon]], or [[xenon]], among many others. Due to this ability, it has been suggested to use PITs for [[Mars|Martian]] missions: an orbiter could refuel by scooping [[Carbon dioxide|CO<sub>2</sub>]] from the [[atmosphere of Mars]], compressing the gas and liquefying it into [[storage tank]]s for the return journey or another [[interplanetary mission]], whilst orbiting the planet.<ref>Polzin, Kurt A. (June 2012). [https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20120015307 "Pulsed Inductive Thruster Using Martian Atmosphere as Propellant"] ''Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration.'' NASA.</ref>