Tag: Deep Space 1

Turning Up the Power on Solar Electric Propulsion

Turning Up the Power on Solar Electric Propulsion

NASA’s Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) ion thruster. /  Image Credit NASA. After arriving at the dwarf planet Ceres one month ago, NASA’s ion powered Dawn spacecraft entered an initial capture orbit which took it to a maximum altitude of more than 46,000 miles above the icy body. Firing steadily, a 2.6 kw ion engine, one […]

Posted in: Advanced propulsion
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