3 天之前 · The idea behind electric propulsion is that an electric current ionizes (i.e. removes an electron from) atoms of a neutral gas, such as xenon or krypton, stored on board a spacecraft. The ...

Spacecraft propulsion is any method used to accelerate spacecraft and artificial satellites. In-space propulsion exclusively deals with propulsion systems used in the vacuum of space and should not be confused with space launch or atmospheric entry.

2024年3月14日 · In-space propulsion devices for small spacecraft are rapidly increasing in number and variety. Although a mix of small spacecraft propulsion devices have established flight heritage, the market for new propulsion products continues to prove dynamic and evolving.

Space Nuclear Propulsion (SNP) is one technology that can provide high thrust and double the propellant efficiency of chemical rockets, making it a viable option for crewed missions to Mars.

2024年4月29日 · Discovering a machine that could somehow produce thrust without releasing propellant would be a game-changer for human space travel. There’s just one problem—such a device would defy the laws of...

2025年1月10日 · Once in space, robots would connect the nuclear electric propulsion system’s radiator panels, through which a liquid metal coolant, such as a sodium-potassium alloy, would flow. While this is still an engineering challenge, it is exactly the kind of engineering challenge in-space-assembly experts at NASA Langley have been working on for decades.

2023年4月17日 · Designing and testing chemical propulsion systems and nuclear thermal engines for satellites and spacecraft, in support of NASA’s space exploration missions.

Spacecraft electric propulsion (or just electric propulsion) is a type of spacecraft propulsion technique that uses electrostatic or electromagnetic fields to accelerate mass to high speed and thus generating thrust to modify the velocity of a spacecraft in orbit. [1]

2022年12月16日 · Without propulsion, nothing goes anywhere. It provides the extreme acceleration a rocket needs to lift off and release a spacecraft into orbit around Earth or sling it into deeper space.

2022年9月1日 · Dawn was NASA’s first deep-space mission that used electric propulsion to reach and orbit two bodies in the asteroid belt—Vesta and Ceres. The spacecraft’s gridded ion thrusters used 400 kg of xenon to accomplish the mission.