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 Exploration
Mar 29, 2012
8
0
If the emergence of mechanically propelled weapons in prehistory is commonly perceived as one of the hallmarks of the advance of modern human populations into the European continent, the existence of archery has always been ...
Archaeology
Feb 22, 2023
2
701
A great offshoot from commercial space companies getting a foothold in real missions to orbit is that the old entrepreneurial space spirit seems to have been revived. People are attempting to develop and build what could ...
Space Exploration
Nov 2, 2012
41
0
When a current passes between two electrodes—one thinner than the other—it creates a wind in the air between. If enough voltage is applied, the resulting wind can produce a thrust without the help of motors or fuel.
Engineering
Apr 3, 2013
35
0
A team of German physicists with TU Dresden has independently tested the feasibility of the EmDrive and Mach Effect Thrusters. They have presented their findings at this year's Aeronautics and Astronautics Association of ...
(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 this week. In the ...
(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 today that ...
Space Exploration
Nov 7, 2011
42
0
Hall thrusters (HTs) are used in earth-orbiting satellites, and also show promise to propel robotic spacecraft long distances, such as from Earth to Mars. The propellant in a HT, usually xenon, is accelerated by an electric ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 15, 2017
3
1053
The James Webb Space Telescope has arrived at its cosmic parking spot a million miles away, bringing it a step closer to its mission to unravel the mysteries of the Universe, NASA said Monday.
Astronomy
Jan 24, 2022
2
244
(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 costly, a consideration ...
Space Exploration
Feb 23, 2009
7
0
