用氙离子推进的。
An Ion Drive for Deep Space 1
Credit: New Millennium Program, JPL, NASA
Explanation: Space travel entered the age of the ion drive in 1998 with the la
unch of Deep Space 1, a NASA mission designed primarily to test new technologi
es. Although the ion drive on Deep Space 1 provided acceleration much smaller
than we feel toward Earth, it gradually gave the spacecraft the speed it neede
d to travel across our Solar System. The propulsion drive worked by ionizing x
enon atoms with power provided by large panels that collect sunlight. As these
ions were expelled by a strong electric field out the back, the spacecraft sl
owly gained speed. Pictured above, hot blue ions emerge from a prototype drive
that was successfully tested at JPL in 1997. Deep Space 1 successfully zoomed
past asteroid 9969 Braille in July 1999 and then Comet Borrelly in September
2001, then obtaining the most detailed photograph ever taken of a comet nucleu
s. The spacecraft was retired in December 2001
- |
|