Deep Space 1’s Ion Engine

Click the image above for a larger view
Full-Res JPEG (1880 x 1482) (402.5 kB)
Full-Res TIFF (1880 x 1482) (6.7 MB)

Caption:

This image of a xenon ion engine, photographed through a port of the vacuum chamber where it was being tested at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, shows the faint blue glow of charged atoms being emitted from the engine.

The ion propulsion engine is the first non-chemical propulsion to be used as the primary means of propelling a spacecraft. Though the thrust of the ion propulsion is about the same as the downward pressure of a single sheet of paper, by the end of the mission, the ion engine will have changed the spacecraft speed by about 13,700 kilometers/hour (8500 miles/hour). Even then, it will have expended only about 64 kg of its 81.5 kg supply of xenon propellant.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name	Value	Additional Values
Target		9969 Braille, 81P/Wild, 5535 Annefrank
System		Main Belt, Periodic Comets
Target Type		Asteroid, Comet
Mission	Deep Space 1 (DS1)
Instrument Host	Deep Space 1
Host Type	Flyby Spacecraft
Instrument	Ion Engine
Detector
Extra Keywords	Color
Acquisition Date
Release Date	2002-12-21
Date in Caption
Image Credit	NASA/JPL
Source	photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04247
Identifier	PIA04247