2U CubeSat with Experimental MHD Pump Payload

Current fluid pump systems aboard spacecraft such as the ISS require regular maintenance, since the mechanical components of such life support and environmental control subsystems are easily subject to degradation. A proposed solution to the heavy maintenance demand of a mechanical fluid system would be a replacement with a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pump, which requires no moving parts. MHD pumps instead rely merely on a current applied to an electrically conducting fluid and an induced magnetic field. In this design report, we are investigating the possibility of integrating MHD pumps onto future spacecraft missions by observing the performance of such a pump in microgravity conditions aboard a 2U CubeSat. Such an experiment would provide insight into the potential replacement of current spacecraft mechanical pump systems through a comparison of their efficiency, flow rate, and power demand.