PIA04247: Deep Space 1's ion engine

Target Name: Deep Space 1's ion engine Mission: Deep Space 1 (DS1) Spacecraft: Deep Space 1 Instrument: Ion Engine Product Size: 1880 samples x 1482 lines Produced By: JPL Full-Res TIFF: PIA04247.tif (6.652 MB) Full-Res JPEG: PIA04247.jpg (402.5 kB)

Original Caption Released with Image: 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. Image Credit: NASA/JPL