An Ion Drive for Deep Space 1
Explanation:
Space travel entered the age of the ion drive in 1998 with the launch of
Deep Space 1,
a NASA mission designed primarily to test new technologies.
Although the
ion drive on
Deep Space 1 provided
acceleration
much smaller than we feel toward
Earth,
it gradually gave the spacecraft the speed it needed to travel across our
Solar System.
The
propulsion drive worked by ionizing
xenon atoms with power provided by large panels that collect sunlight.
As these
ions were expelled by a strong
electric field out the back, the spacecraft slowly gained speed.
Pictured above, hot blue ions emerge from a prototype drive that was
successfully tested at
JPL in 1997.
Deep Space 1
successfully zoomed past asteroid
9969 Braille in July 1999 and then
Comet Borrelly in September 2001,
then obtaining the
most detailed photograph
ever taken of a comet nucleus.
The spacecraft was
retired in December 2001
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.
