NegspectahDek
Face
Registered: Jul 2001
Location: The Rugged Grains of Shaolin Soil
Posts: 32 |
i dont see how it could be a plasma engine, seeing as how i've never heard of one.
from http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/08ds1/
The ion engine works by first removing an electron from the gas xenon, then using a pair of electrically charged grids to shoot the ionized gas out at more than 35,000 meters per second (78,000 miles per hour). The engine is one of a dozen important new technologies that the successful Deep Space 1 mission officially finished testing in 1999. Now that Deep Space 1 has been approved for a risky extended mission to Comet Borrelly, the long-lived ion engine will take the spacecraft near the comet. Similar ion engines may be used on future space missions, particularly missions to comets and asteroids where the ion engine's high fuel economy is important for precise navigation to the small bodies
i don't speak on things that I know nothing about
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11-21-2001 06:33 AM
