Plasma engines could be the future of human space travel, and Russia’s “manetoplasma rockets” have the most ambitious travel ...

Russian scientists say they are closing in on a propulsion breakthrough that could compress the journey from Earth to Mars ...

Plasma propulsion transforms an inert propellant – often hydrogen – into plasma, a superheated mix of ions and electrons. Magnetic fields then funnel and accelerate the ...

Russia's state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom, has developed a plasma electric rocket engine that could send spacecraft to Mars in just 30 to 60 days. The plasma engine works by accelerating ...

July 2, 2009 – Ad Astra Rocket Company has successfully demonstrated operation of its VX-200 plasma engine first stage at full power and under superconducting conditions in tests conducted today at ...

We’ve been talking about going to Mars for decades, but we haven’t yet cracked how to get people there and back safely and in a reasonable amount of time. The problem is one of distance and the ...

PLASMA ENGINE FACILITY: Safran has inaugurated a new plasma engine facility at its space propulsion plant in Vernon, north of Paris. The facility, partly financed with a 1 million euro ($1.3 million) ...

A plasma rocket engine that may one day get a test on the International Space Station has reached a power milestone in one of the radio-frequency (RF) systems used to heat the electrically charged ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American When Felipe Gomez was in high school, he ...