ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,330,816, issued on June 17.
"Advanced electric resistance thermal propulsion systems" was invented by Robert Alan Hickman (Chapel Hill, N.C.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Electric resistance thermal propulsion systems that are configured to heat propellants for expulsion from a thruster using a heat exchanger that includes ultra-high temperature ceramics, such as hafnium carbide (HfC), are disclosed. The heating chamber may also be constructed from such materials. In operation, the electric resistance thermal propulsion system raises the temperature of the propellants that exit the heating chamber to expand in the nozzle to generate thr...