While we have yet to figure out how to travel by warp drive, we have found other ways for spacecraft to propel themselves at mind-boggling speeds across vast distances of outer space. The BepiColombo ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Hop in an airplane today, and it will get the thrust it needs to fly ...

If you’re familiar with advancements in spacecraft engine development, then you’ve undoubtedly heard of something known as the ion drive engine. In essence, the ion drive engine is a solid-state ...

NASA is launching a spacecraft destined to slam into an asteroid as part of its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission tonight, from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Its purpose ...

Researchers from MIT have flown a plane with no moving parts for the first time. It is powered by an "ion drive" which uses high powered electrodes to ionise and accelerate air particles, creating an ...

Proving yet again that Star Trek was scarily prescient, NASA has announced that its NEXT ion drive -- NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster -- has operated continually for over 43,000 hours (five years).

Accion Systems uses electrospray ion drive propulsion. The thrust-producing ions are supplied from their ionic liquid propellant — a safe, non-toxic liquid salt. This novel source of ions allows us to ...

Ion thrusters are an amazing spacecraft propulsion technology, providing very high efficiency with relatively little fuel. Yet getting one to produce more thrust than that required to lift a sheet of ...