Latest Ion thruster Stories

PARIS, Le Bourget and SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, QinetiQ, (LSE: QQ.L) and EADS Astrium Crisa, an EADS (PAR:EAD) company, announced today that the companies have entered into a joint agreement to supply the XENITH(TM) (Xenon Ion Thruster) ion propulsion system to the worldwide commercial spacecraft market. The agreement will enable customers to benefit from the combined expertise of independent market leaders in design,...

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft has reached its official approach phase to the asteroid Vesta and will begin using cameras for the first time to aid navigation for an expected July 16 orbital encounter. The large asteroid is known as a protoplanet - a celestial body that almost formed into a planet. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) At the start of this three-month final approach to this massive body in the asteroid...

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has reached its official approach phase to the asteroid Vesta and will begin using cameras for the first time to aid navigation for an expected July 16 orbital encounter. The large asteroid is known as a protoplanet "“ a celestial body that almost formed into a planet.At the start of this three-month final approach to this massive body in the asteroid belt, Dawn is 1.21 million kilometers (752,000 miles) from Vesta, or about three times the distance between Earth and...

After 3 and a half years of thrusting silently through the void, NASA's Dawn spacecraft is on the threshold of a new world. It's deep in the asteroid belt, less than 4 months from giant asteroid Vesta."We're closing in," says Marc Rayman, Dawn's chief engineer and mission manager. "And I'm getting more excited every day!"Dawn will enter orbit around Vesta in July 2011, becoming the first spacecraft ever to orbit a body in the asteroid belt. After conducting a detailed...

SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, and NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) announced today that they have successfully operated a Japanese HAYABUSA low power microwave ion engine at Aerojet's facility in Redmond, Wash. These ion propulsion systems provide propellant efficiencies more than 10 times higher than those of conventional propulsion systems for use on low Earth orbit, geosynchronous and deep space missions. This test is an...

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 complete a series of thruster tests at the White Sands test facility. The test will aid in maneuvering and landing the next generation of robotic lunar landers that could be used to explore the moon's surface and other airless celestial bodies.The Robotic Lunar Lander Development Project at the...

Following recovery from a glitch that prevented ESA's GOCE gravity mission from sending any scientific data to the ground, the satellite has been gently brought back down to its operational altitude and resumed normal service "“ delivering the most detailed gravity data to date. Data from GOCE will result in a unique model of the "˜geoid', which is the surface of an ideal global ocean at rest. It is a crucial reference for accurately measuring ocean circulation, sea-level change and ice...

Let the countdown begin. NASA's Dawn spacecraft is less than one year away from giant asteroid Vesta. "There's nothing more exciting than revealing an unexplored, alien world," says Marc Rayman, Dawn's chief engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Vesta," he predicts, "is going to amaze us."Dawn is slated to enter orbit around Vesta in late July 2011. As the first breathtaking images are beamed back to Earth, researchers will quickly combine them into a...

Engineers are studying the reaction wheels on NASA's Dawn spacecraft after automatic sensors detected excess friction building up in one of them and powered it off early on the morning of June 17, 2010. Reaction wheels spin to help a spacecraft maintain attitude control, and Dawn, which is exploring the asteroid belt, uses three wheels in normal operations.The three other reaction wheels are functioning normally. Mission managers said plans for Dawn to visit the asteroid Vesta in 2011 and...

SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, announced today that it has signed an agreement with NEC Corporation (TSE:6701) to jointly supply HAYABUSA-derived ion propulsion systems for the U.S. and Japanese aerospace markets. These ion propulsion systems provide significant advantages for geosynchronous satellites and deep space missions through fuel efficiencies over 10 times higher than those of conventional propulsion systems. The...