NASA: next gen ion engines could be ready by 2013

NASA: next gen ion engines could be ready by 2013
Exciting news is coming out of the world of propulsion. In a talk this week in Denver, Michael Patterson, the principal investigator on NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (or NEXT) program, said that the next generation ion engine could go into production as soon as January 2010, and be completed sometime around 2013. The news comes after NASA completed testing for the NEXT ion propulsion system. [Read more...]