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Plasma Rocket Could Travel to Mars in 39 Days

(PhysOrg.com) -- Last Wednesday, the Ad Astra Rocket Company tested what is currently the most powerful plasma rocket in the world. As the Webster, Texas, company announced, the VASIMR VX-200 engine ran at ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 06, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (169) | comments 71 weblog

Voyager 2 to switch to backup thruster set

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Deep Space Network personnel sent commands to the Voyager 2 spacecraft Nov. 4 to switch to the backup set of thrusters that controls the roll of the spacecraft. Confirmation was received ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 07, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (18) | comments 42 | with audio podcast

Voyager 2 completes switch to backup thruster set

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Voyager 2 has successfully switched to the backup set of thrusters that controls the roll of the spacecraft. Deep Space Network personnel sent commands to the spacecraft to make the ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 15, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (15) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

New rocket aims for cheaper nudges in space: Plasma thruster is small, runs on inexpensive gases (Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Satellites orbiting the Earth must occasionally be nudged to stay on the correct path. MIT scientists are developing a new rocket that could make this and other spacecraft maneuvers much less ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Feb 23, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 7

'Look Ma, No Parachute!' Lunar Lander Floats on Electric-blue Jets

How do you fly on a world with no atmosphere? Wings won't work and neither do propellers. And don't even try that parachute!

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 15, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (15) | comments 5

Getting to the moon on drops of fuel: An ionic motor for small satellites

The first prototype of a new, ultra-compact motor that will allow small satellites to journey beyond Earth's orbit is just making its way out of the EPFL laboratories where it was built. The goal of the micro motor: to drastically ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 29, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

NASA engineer proposes new type of fusion thruster for space travel

(PhysOrg.com) -- John J. Chapman, a physicist working for NASA has presented an idea for a new type of fusion thruster for possible use by space traveling vehicles at the IEEE Symposium going on in Chicago ...

Physics / General Physics

created Jun 30, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (13) | comments 13 | with audio podcast weblog

Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft: Trajectory maneuver slated for Jan. 11

(PhysOrg.com) -- An engine firing on Jan. 11 will be the biggest maneuver that NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft will perform on its flight between Earth and Mars.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jan 09, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

GOCE's electric ion propulsion engine switched on

(PhysOrg.com) -- GOCE's sophisticated electric ion propulsion system has been switched on and confirmed to be operating normally, marking another crucial milestone in the satellite's post-launch commissioning ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Apr 06, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 2

Comet-hunting spacecraft shuts down after 12 years

With the click of a mouse, Sandy Freund Kasper sent a command to NASA's comet-hunting Stardust space probe to burn all its fuel, starting a sequence that would shut the spacecraft down after a 12-year run ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 25, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 0

'Green' satellite fuel designed to make space safer

(PhysOrg.com) -- On the day running up to launch when a spacecraft is fuelled, ground personnel look more like astronauts than engineers, putting on spacesuit-like protective gear.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 16, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 0

NASA thruster test aids future robotic lander's ability to land safely

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., collaborated with NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, N.M., and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, Calif., to successfully ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 08, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Cassini Thruster Swap Planned

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Cassini spacecraft will swap to a backup set of propulsion thrusters in mid-March due to degradation in the performance of the current set of thrusters.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Feb 02, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (6) | comments 3

Mars-bound NASA rover adjusts course to red planet (Update)

Firing on all engines, NASA's latest rover to Mars executed a course adjustment Wednesday that put it on track for a landing on the red planet in August.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jan 12, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

ISS Expedition 18 Crew Completes Spacewalk

(PhysOrg.com) -- Tuesday's spacewalk with Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov concluded at 5:11 p.m. EDT when the Pirs docking module airlock was closed. The spacewalk concluded ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 10, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0