new research, led by Michael Keidar, the A. James Clark Professor of Engineering at the George Washington University, demonstrates an important breakthrough in satellite propulsion that suggests a way to use electric engines in different modalities. ...
Mitterauer, J., "Micro-propulsion for Small Spacecraft: a new Challenge for Field Effect Electric Propulsion and Microstructured Liquid Metal Ion Sources," Surf. Interface Anal. 36, 380, 2004.Micropropulsion for small spacecraft: A new challenge for field effect electric propulsion and ...
Ion engines are a form of electric propulsion and work by accelerating a beam of positively charged particles (or ions) away from the spacecraft using an electric field. ESA is currently using electric propulsion on its Moon mission, SMART-1. The new engine is over ten times more fuel effic...
Spacecraft propulsion that allows satellites to travel deep into space and perform complex maneuvers; Leveraging sustainable propulsion systems in satellite production; Very High Throughput Satellites (VHTS) that transmit data at the speed of several hundreds of gigabytes or even terabytes per second. [...
The standard means of propulsion for spacecraft uses chemical rockets. There are two main types: solid-fueled (such as thesolid rocket boosterson the Space Shuttle), and liquid-fueled (such as theSaturnV). In both cases, a chemical reaction is employed to produce a very hot, highly pressur...
andenergy devices– to power spacecraft is being developed in Purdue University's Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories, which is the largest academic propulsion lab in the world. The research is showing success at increasing burn rate of solid propellants that are used to fuel rockets and spacecraft....
Taking a spacecraft to the surface of an alien planet is hard enough, but it can be even more difficult to reach the exact landing spot. Now, new NASA technologies could enable landers to adapt in real-time to what they see before them. A team of engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion...
propulsion to a spacecraft. Besides, to make things more efficient, we thought about exploiting the photoelectric effect of the tapes exposed to sunlight. We believe that this is an extremely important simplification which can boost tether technology," states the other patent author, Claudio Bom...
Therefore, we’ve still got a long road ahead of us before we’ve gotenergy-harvesting, self-propelledintergalactic spacecraft, but these studies (assuming they’re not flawed) suggest we’ve made a major breakthrough in space propulsion systems. With further refinement, microwave ...
The idea behind nuclear fusion, as I’ve noted before in previous coverage, is to harness a power similar to that of the Sun. The reason that it might work better in space with a propulsion system is because it won’t need a massive steam turbine to help fuel it, and it won’t nee...