Rocket science got a bit more science-fiction-like as RocketStar announces it has successfully demonstrated a new ion drive that incorporates nuclear fusion.
It’s not the sort of fusion that powers the Sun, but it does improve thrust by 50%.
In 1964, the Soviet Union launched its Zond 2 deep space probe for an anticipated flyby of Mars.
The mission proved to be unsuccessful when all communications were lost about six months later, but it’s still remembered for the experimental ion thrusters that it carried for attitude control.
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Called pulsed plasma thrusters, these were deceptively simple in design with a plug of teflon at one end of a tube consisting of a cathode and an anode.
When an arc of electricity zapped between these, some of the teflon vaporized, generating a small amount of thrust.
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