ion engine

12.04.09

VASIMR Ion Engine Could Provide a Fast Lane to Mars

By Carina Storrs Posted 10.14.2009 at 1:54 pm 2 Comments

Six Europeans recently wrapped up 105 days in an isolation chamber with no TV, no showers, and lots of precooked food, to test the stresses of a journey to Mars. Real Marstronauts might not have to suffer through all that. A new ion engine, which shoots charged particles to create thrust, could get them to the Red Planet in just 39 days.

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The Next Space Thruster

Rockets burn for mere minutes. This engine runs for years, sending probes to Neptune at 10,000 miles an hour

By Michael Moyer Posted 03.15.2006 at 2:00 am 1 Comment

NASA's Ion Engine

1. Charge the Fuel
Xenon is an inert gas, seemingly useless for rocketry. Before it´s used as fuel, the engine must convert it into an electrically charged gas, also called a plasma. An electron emitter fires electrons at the xenon gas. When an electron hits a xenon atom, it strips off an additional electron from the atom´s shell to create a positively charged xenon ion.

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