October 2016
Unlocking the potential of annular ion engines
...AIE concept represents a natural progression of gridded ion thruster technology beyond the capabilities embodied by NASA’s Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) [1]. The AIE would be appropriate for: (a) applications which require power levels exceeding...
03 October 2016
Martian soil helps boost its atmosphere with noble gases
...possible. In particular higher-than-expected levels of the isotopes xenon-124 and 126 could be due to an acquisition of neutrons... the six and nine different isotopes of krypton and xenon allows scientists to delve into the complex interactions between...
07 March 2018
World's first firing for ESA's air-breathing electric thruster
... away instead. Once perfected, the resulting product – designed by QuinteScience a company established in Poland – was tested with xenon, like the thrusters predecessor, to see if enough ‘fuel’ was collected so that thruster ignition could take place...
24 May 2021
A CubeSat that produces visible light on the ground to be launched in NASA initiative
... amateur radio license and a ham radio to set off a xenon flash from the spacecraft which will be visible from the ground.... the CETYS Universidad team, in Baja California, Mexico, xenon flashtubes, solar panels, an onboard computer, transceiver and a...
March 2015
Dawn of ion propulsion
... uses only about 3.25 milligrams/second, so 24 hours of continuous thrusting would expend only ten ounces of xenon. Because the xenon is used so frugally, the corresponding thrust is very gentle. The main engine on some interplanetary spacecraft may...
April 2019
On-board propulsion set to drive the smallsat revolution
...ThrustMe propulsion system following an extended lifetime test. Solid propellant The idea of using iodine as a replacement for xenon began in early 2008 during a research project at the Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas Most plasma-based propulsion...
