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other jet?

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mr. piper | 13:59 Fri 29th Apr 2005 | Science
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what is the space flight concept engine that works by emitting one atom from the exhaust every second say, that creates forward momentum very slowly at first but continually accelerating up to fantastic speeds with a near endless fuel supply.

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 Xenon � the gas used in plasma television sets, automobile headlights, and photo flash tubes � is used in ion engines.
Ion propulsion systems are lightweight, since they require only a few grams of xenon gas per day. While the thrust exerted by an ion engine is gentle, moving a spacecraft along slowly, the engine's fuel efficiency actually can reduce trip times and lower the cost of the launch vehicle. Those factors makes ion engines an attractive choice for future deep space missions.

From:

http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Comets/DeepSpace1.html


 

Reminds me of TIE Fighter from Star Wars (Twin ION Engine) :)

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