Overview of the Pegasus Experimental Program

The Pegasus Toroidal Experiment is exploring plasma stability at near-unity A and developing non-solenoidal startup tools. Several techniques have been developed to suppress deleterious tearing modes by modifying the current profile, including toroidal field ramps and noninductive current drive via washer-stack current sources. These techniques have allowed access to I$_{N}$=14 MA/m-T without the appearance of performance-limiting instabilities. Filamentary structures have recently been observed near the edge of almost all ohmic discharges; large values of j$_{\vert \vert }$/B in this region suggest that these may be the result of peeling modes. Non-inductive startup via washer-stack current sources has produced plasmas with toroidal currents up to 50 kA. Plasmas have been produced using two geometries: with sources in the lower divertor region, and with a source on the outboard midplane producing moderate-A targets intended for PF induction. Plasmas produced with both geometries have been successfully coupled to Ohmic drive.