Plasma Propulsion

Plasma propulsion is a type of spacecraft propulsion that uses plasma as a propellant. Plasma is a highly ionized gas that can be accelerated to high velocities using electric and magnetic fields. In plasma propulsion, a gas such as xenon is ionized and heated to form a plasma, which is then accelerated out of the spacecraft using an electric field. This produces a high exhaust velocity, which results in a high specific impulse and a more efficient use of propellant compared to traditional chemical rockets. Plasma propulsion systems can be categorized into two types: electrothermal and electromagnetic. Electrothermal systems use electric heating to create the plasma, while electromagnetic systems use radio frequency or microwave energy to ionize the gas. Plasma propulsion is currently used in a number of spacecraft, including NASA's Dawn mission and the European Space Agency's SMART-1 mission.
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