Last week, as the world celebrated the first lunar landing, Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins both called for NASA to make Mars its next goal. But the chemical propulsion system ...

A group of French physicists has optimized a type of ion thruster to significantly extend its lifetime: the new development made it sturdy enough to be able withstand a long trip into deep space. Such ...

Hall thrusters combine a magnetic field and a trapped electron cloud to create a completely hollow “virtual” cathode. A small amount of propellant gas (like xenon) is injected into the thruster’s ...

I remember how excited I was when I first heard about the ion engine being used on NASA’s Deep Space 1 mission. It was like Star Wars, only instead of fast, highly-maneuverable TIE Fighters, the force ...

Benjamin Longmier, Michigan University, is developing the CubeSat Ambipolar Thruster (CAT), a new rocket propulsion system powered by the Sun and propelled by water, which will push small spacecraft ...