Message #18998

[Bianca]

http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sionrock.htm





                                                       I O N   R O C K E T S



Dr. David P. Stern


“The ion rocket is another means of providing thrust, more gradually but also more efficiently than a conventional rocket.   The material ejected here is xenon, a heavy inert gas, compressed inside strong containers (mercury vapor was also considered).   As in the nuclear rocket, the energy which propels the xenon jet comes from a different source; here it is electrical energy from solar cells.”