Smart -1 ion engine fired successfully

[THE_Editor]

Full story HERE

[Elie]

Still waiting for the warp drive

[J1NG]

Eh, don't we need WWIII to happen first for that?



J1NG

[Jon P. Inghram]

http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds1/

[rylan]

The really promising stuff are the nuclear powered ion drive engines that are in development. You really need a lot of juice to get good performance out of a bank of ion thrusters.

[Dr Mordrid]

It's called VASIMR, which would provide all the power necessary for short-flight duration solar system exploration. The ideal power source for VASIMR would be a compact 10-20 mw reactor, and that tech is already available in the submarine world.

Then there is Mini-Magnetospheric Plasma Propulsion (AKA: M2P2) in which a large magnetic "bubble" is generated around the vehicle that then is used as a high-tech solar sail.

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/future-00g.html

http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/prop19aug99_1.htm

http://www.geophys.washington.edu/Space/SpaceModel/M2P2/

Dr. Mordrid

[rylan]

Getting closer to warp fields!