The successful presentment of an iodine electric thruster in infinite suggests the humans is unaired to cheaper , more powerful ways to move satellites in orbit and spacecraft exploring other worlds . With humble Earth celestial orbit having become a much more dangerous place after last week ’s blowing up of theCosmos 1408 orbiter , improved evasion capacity will be much apprize .
In quad , Newtonian action and reaction are n’t obscured by friction or air electrical resistance , so to move a space vehicle you just necessitate to fire a propellent in the opposite steering you desire to go . Electric propulsion thrusters aremore efficientthan those powered by chemic reaction and are in increasingly far-flung utilization . However , they ’ve been cramp by less than ideal propellants .
Iodine has been advise for 50 years as a more suitable propellent than the xenon and krypton currently in habit , but some obstacles have stand in the way . Gallic firmThrustMe’ssuccessful first presentment of an iodine pusher in blank space has been report inNature .
The experiment consume situation a year ago when a 20 kilo ( 44 pound ) CubeSat satellite boosted its EL by 200 - 400 meters ( 656 - 1,312 feet ) on each of 11 firings .
thruster like this are a long way of life from providing the fleet bursts of office that would allow a foxiness to take off from a planet or large moon . Once in space , however , they are much more efficient than rockets for making allowance and have also been used for slow build - ups of speed such as on asteroid geographic expedition missions .
Propellant is n’t the same as fuel – in theory , any ionized materialcould be usedbut most substances present problems of one form or another . Xenon is currently the dominant propellent , in part because of its low ionization vigor . However , it ’s expensive on Earth , almost unsufferable to get elsewhere in the Solar System , and postulate to be put in in high - press tanks , whose weight involve to be launched . Krypton , whatever Superman may tell you , is cheaper , but has some similar problem .
I has an even humiliated ionization energy than xenon , but can be salt away as a whole and turned to accelerator pedal with just a little heating . quite a little of people have notice iodine ’s potential and studied its practicality on Earth . Unfortunately , iodine is very reactive , posing a terror to metal part in a pusher and , when stored as a self-colored , tend to violate up in ways that could step in with its flow .
ThrustMe had previously demonstrated the practicality on Earth of storing atomic number 53 in an atomic number 13 oxide ceramic engine block prior to heating . The Nature paper confirms the idea works in space , where it count , as well . Once ignite , the iodine was ionized using a radiocommunication - frequency inducive antenna , quicken a strand chemical reaction and producing ions that were then quicken using an 800 - 1,300 Volt galvanising bailiwick . The lead propellent has a better power to weight value than xenon .
An early even under a sour sky support how much more common planet are becoming . In 2011 , only 39 fresh satellite were launched , aneditorialaccompanying the newspaper notes , in 2020 that number was 1,202 . To avoid bumping into each other those satellites require the capacity to control their orbital cavity stingily , something ThrustMe ’s I engine may provide .
ThrustMeacknowledgesxenon still tender fast start metre , an advantage in emergencies .
While gimcrack and effective , electrical thrusters are still much less powerful than traditional rockets , submit an obstacle to crewed commission , which require heavy vehicle and ca n’t give to await . Nevertheless , there are still hopes this will be the technology thattakes humans to Mars .
