An Ion Drive for Deep Space 1
Explanation:
Space travel entered the age of the ion drive
Saturday
with the launch of
Deep Space 1,
a NASA mission designed primarily to test new technologies.
Deep Space 1 is bound for
asteroid
1992 KD in July 1999.
Although the
ion drive on Deep Space 1 provides
acceleration much smaller than we feel toward
Earth,
it will gradually give the spacecraft the speed it
needs to travel across our
Solar System. The
propulsion drive works by ionizing
Xenon atoms with power provided by
large panels that collect sunlight.
As these
ions are expelled by a strong
electric field out the back, the spacecraft slowly gains speed.
Pictured above, hot blue ions emerge from a prototype drive that was
successfully tested last year at
JPL.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
