Slashdot Mirror
New Ion Engine Being Tested
Dr Cool writes "A new design of spacecraft ion engine has been tested by the European Space Agency which dramatically improves performance over present thrusters and marks a major step forward in space propulsion capability. Ion engines are a form of electric propulsion and work by accelerating a beam of positively charged particles (or ions) away from the spacecraft using an electric field. ESA is currently using electric propulsion on its Moon mission, SMART-1. The new engine is over ten times more fuel efficient than the one used on SMART-1."
Look, we still can't go faster than light, ok guys?
Hah! That's nothing! I've been watching Deep Space 9 ten years ago!
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say
You Know You Are A Geek when a /. story with the name "New Ion Engine Being Tested" makes you nearly drop the beer and wonder how a defunct game company is producing new engines.
:p
Nonetheless, I blame John Romero for my own confusion and/or angst, because it makes me feel better.
Ion engines are a form of electric propulsion and work by accelerating a beam of positively charged particles (or ions) away from the spacecraft using an electric field.
Cool. So can I put one on my Hummer and drive in the Carpool lane with all those Priuses?
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
The space elevator seems okay, but I'm putting my money on the space catapult. The one downside is the giant net you need to catch the 'passangers'.
One step closer to my TIE Fighter.
I am so creative, look at my cry for attention in my sig.
That's neat! Now if we could hook up two of these babies together, and perhaps add solar panels for additional power, we'd get space craft with twin ion engines. Hrm. Twin ion engines... where have I seen that before?
The real question is; do the Europeans have a 'Flux Capacitor'?
You have a choice. If you mod 'Insightful' we smash your face against the bulkhead. If you mod 'Interesting' we smash the bulkhead against your face.
This is Europe and Australia putting technology into space. US space technology these days is either space based spying on the world or spin from the Whitehouse.
If you believe that, I have some land I'd like to sell you near Mons Latalis.
The one downside is the giant net you need to catch the 'passangers'
I think you misspelled 'chunks of frozen, red slush'.
"I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
But think about the environmental impact of doing something like that. You are wasting a non-renewable resource that rightly belongs to everyone on Earth. I don't think anyone should be able to do something like that until we are really clear on the impact on Earths like from the rotation slowdown that would happen from this. Even more I think we should impose a ban on any and all fly-by assisted missions.