An Ion Drive for Deep Space 1

Space travel entered the age of the ion drive Saturday with the launch of Deep Space 1 , a NASA mission designed primarily to test new technologies. Deep Space 1 is bound for asteroid 1992 KD in July 1999. Although the ion drive on Deep Space 1 provides acceleration much smaller than we feel toward Earth , it will gradually give the spacecraft the speed it needs to travel across our Solar System . The propulsion drive works by ionizing Xenon atoms with power provided by large panels that collect sunlight. As these ions are expelled by a strong electric field out the back, the spacecraft slowly gains speed. Pictured above , hot blue ions emerge from a prototype drive that was successfully tested last year at JPL .