NASA — New Solar Electric Ion Propulsion Engine Image Released
Editor’s note: NASA + solar… big geek win! And holy cow, Batman — look at that wicked NASA image! Try not to drool on your keyboard while you enjoy this Solar Love repost.
NASA recently released a new image of its newest solar-electric propulsion thruster design. The design utilizes xenon ions for propulsion, offering the possibility of a much more efficient means of space travel than chemical rockets can provide. More energy-efficient space travel sounds good, and it’s solar-powered to boot. 🙂
The new image shows the cutting-edge solar-electric propulsion thruster that is currently in development at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. An earlier version of this design is currently flying on NASA’s Dawn mission — NASA’s first purely exploratory mission to use ion propulsion.
This new design is currently being considered for use as a part of the Asteroid Initiative — NASA’s proposed mission to capture a small near-Earth asteroid and then put into orbit near the Moon, where astronauts can then explore it easily.
The great advantage of ion propulsion — and why the technology is viewed as having so much potential — is its efficiency. The technology offers the possibility of traveling further, faster, and cheaper than conventional technologies allow.
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Latest CleanTechnica.TV Video
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.