The NEXT ion thruster has run for 48,000 hours (Image: NASA Christopher J. Lynch (Photo: Wyle Information Systems, LLC)) View gallery - 3 images ...

Next-Gen 'Ion Thruster' Could Be Satellite Savior By Space.com Published November 11, 2009 12:00am EST | Updated January 13, 2015 2:00pm EST ...

NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) ion engine has set a new world record by clocking up 43,000 hours of continuous operation at NASA’s Glenn Research Center’s Electric Propulsion ...

Proving yet again that Star Trek was scarily prescient, NASA has announced that its NEXT ion drive -- NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster -- has operated continually for over 43,000 hours (five years).

That’s why NASA developed the H71M sub-kilowatt Hall-effect thruster, a next-generation ion engine that can supply a velocity change. The propulsion system must operate using low power ...

Hall thrusters (HTs) have been developed to have a relatively high efficiency of 45%–55% in the power range of 0.5 to 5 kW.2 However, scaling down the HT to a low power range has several challenges ...

The current efficiency champion is the ion thruster, which has now been used on a number of spacecraft. ... Next story. Most Read. 1. After successfully entering Earth’s atmosphere, ...

A diagram of an electrostatic ion thruster (as in NASA's NEXT, and most other ion thrusters) At first I was skeptical of the CAT organization's claims ...

Scientists and engineers are diligently working on innovative concepts to make the next era of human spaceflight more powerful and more efficient using nuclear propulsion. One of these designs, known ...

The space agency's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) project completed a continuous test the ion engine for more than 48,000 hours — over five and a half years — longer than any other space ...

When [Jay Bowles] demoed his first-generation ion thruster on Plasma Channel, the resulting video picked up millions of views and got hobbyists and professionals alike talking. While ionic lifters … ...

Spacecraft have used ion drives to explore the moon and deep space, but a new study aims to boost the electric propulsion idea to keep satellites around Earth alive longer.