>>7223880
Kek.
Thanks anon very interdasting.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/news/a28754/new-ion-thruster-breaks-records-power-thrust/
Ion thrusters are among the most exciting propulsion systems for future deep space exploration, and the technology's viability has already been demonstrated on dozens of spacecraft. The thrusters ionize a fuel source, generally xenon, and then accelerate the charged particles to tens of thousands of miles per hour using electric and magnetic fields. The beam of ions blasting out the back of the thruster is an efficient way to move satellites in the near-vacuum of space.
If scientists could scale ion thrusters to accelerate larger spacecraft, they could propel missions to Mars and beyond. That's what the X3 project is all about.
In a vacuum chamber at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Ohio, University of Michigan doctoral student Scott Hall and NASA Glenn research scientist Hani Kamhawi recently fired up the X3, a 500-pound Hall thruster (a type of xenon-fueled ion thruster) developed by the University of Michigan, NASA, and the Air Force. The X3 proceeded to break records for operating current, power, and thrust generated by ion propulsion. UM calls the X3 a prototype "Mars engine," one of three experimental propulsion systems funded under NASA's Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnership.