Advanced Propulsion Comes Of Age
Date: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 @ 21:41:00 UTC
Topic: General

Electric power and ion propulsion are about to combine for only the second time to propel a spacecraft beyond Earth orbit. Next April the European Space Agency's SMART-1 lunar satellite heads off to explore the Moon from an orbital position.
Electric propulsion has been used in low-Earth telecommunications satellites for years, and a high-tech ion engine powered NASA's Deep Space 1 test craft from 1998 until late last year. But before this technology is ready for prime-time missions to other planets and beyond, more tests are needed.
Read on:
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/smart_technology_020731.html

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/smart_science_020730.html

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/jpl_brophy_010808-1.html

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/advanced_propulsion_020522-1.html