Regardless, ion propulsion is real and we have it today ... To understand why, you need to know two things: how ion drive works and how the engines differ when using them in an atmosphere.

This innovative propulsion concept was first used in 1998 on NASA’s ... is almost the thrust of a US Delta II rocket. The fuel economy of the ion drive enables Dawn to follow an ambitious trajectory, ...

As much as we love Star Trek, we have to admit there are some continuity problems. For example, in Spock’s Brain, the alien-of-the-week’s ion drive gave Scotty engineering envy. However, in ...

Hollow cathodes are used as part of both Hall effect and gridded ion thrusters, which are some of the most common forms of electric propulsion in use today. The operation of hollow cathodes, despite ...

Scientists have figured out how to create a new ion engine that uses 100 million ... told Tech Insider in an email. "But the thruster can be fired for cumulated periods of time much above those ...

Since 2009, the prospects for electric drive vehicles of all stripes looks stronger now than ever before – and no-one is seriously proposing any chemistry other than li-ion for the near-term.

A research team presents an AI assessor for Hall-effect ion thrusters, the engines of satellites and space probes.