Ion Engine - Tag - Positive Daily Techhttps://positivedailytech.pages.dev/tags/ion-engine/Ion Engine - Tag - Positive Daily TechHugo -- gohugo.ioen-ushello@positivedailytech.pages.dev (PDT Editor)hello@positivedailytech.pages.dev (PDT Editor)Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000NASA Tests Ion Engine 25x More Powerful for Marshttps://positivedailytech.pages.dev/posts/2026-05-16-nasa-ion-engine-25x-more-powerful-for-mars/Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://positivedailytech.pages.dev/posts/2026-05-16-nasa-ion-engine-25x-more-powerful-for-mars/NASA Tests Ion Engine 25x More Powerful for Mars

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has fired up a lithium-fed magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster reaching 120 kilowatts — the highest power ever achieved by an electric propulsion system in the United States. This is over 25 times more powerful than the thrusters powering NASA’s Psyche spacecraft.

With this breakthrough technology, astronauts could reach Mars in just weeks instead of the current seven-month journey. The experimental MPD thruster is part of a nuclear electric propulsion system being developed for crewed Mars missions.

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