NASA Ames Research Fellow Develops 30 kW Arc-Jet Testing Facility

Jocelino Rodrigues, a NASA Postdoctoral Research Fellow at NASA Ames Research Center, says he helped develop and characterize the center’s mARC II arc-jet facility. The 30 kW facility supports testing, and Rodrigues says SpaceX and Blue Origin have used it.

NASA Ames's mARC II arc-jet facility is rated at 30 kW.

What has been confirmed

The available source identifies Rodrigues’s NASA Ames role, his work on mARC II, and the facility’s 30 kW rating. These details, along with his reported work with SpaceX and Blue Origin, come from an Aviation Week profile and are assessed as likely, rather than officially confirmed. The fact set also says Rodrigues received Aviation Week’s 20 Twenties award in 2018; that detail is likewise assessed as likely.

Why it matters

Arc-jet facilities help researchers study how materials respond to intense heating, supporting the development and testing of spaceflight hardware. Rodrigues also says he developed a method to estimate a parameter used in arc-jet facilities, and that his work is informing a draft ASTM International standard.

FlyMarshall context

Research facilities such as mARC II connect laboratory testing with the wider aerospace supply chain. For commercial aviation readers, this work offers a view of the materials and test methods that can support future aerospace vehicles, although the source does not describe a direct application to commercial airliners.

What happens next

The source describes the ASTM work as a draft standard in development; it does not give a publication date or confirm adoption. Rodrigues also reports mentoring a University of Bristol aerospace engineering undergraduate for a year and NASA Ames summer interns, alongside STEM outreach at a public technology festival and a virtual school Q&A.