A prototype ion engine that uses lithium vapor as a propellant has aced its first tests, achieving 25 times more power than previous ion engines.

A new era for space propulsion? An ion engine twenty-five times more powerful than NASA's current best model has just been ...

mileage on the engine increases. That wisdom does not hold true for NASA’s ion engine, whose odometer continues to spin to the delight of its owners. This little engine that could has more than made ...

CLEVELAND — A small robotic surveyor arrives to explore a near-Earth asteroid. Another robotic spacecraft is returning to Earth with a pristine comet surface sample. Meanwhile, a robotic explorer is ...

Sending an object to another star is still the stuff of science fiction. But some concrete missions could get us at least part way there. These "interstellar precursor missions" include a trip to the ...