Ion Engines
So now we have Ion Engines? This just magically occurred in my universe. Three years ago, I read an article about an engine some lay-person had built that was being “analyzed by NASA” and they “could not dispute” the output of this “Ion Driven Engine”. How this new invention would revolutionize space travel, once they got a handle on it and did the work on reverse engineering it.
There’s never been a single mention that I recall reading, and I read everything that comes across the news concerning big physics and space travel announcements, that had anything to do with satellites having Ion Engines as far back as 1999 or 2001, which is referred to in this article:
Ion thrusters already have a proven track record in space, most notably on the Deep Space 1 craft that flew by the asteroid Braille and the comet Borrelly in 1999 and 2001, respectively, becoming the first spacecraft to rely primarily on ion propulsion. The Dawn spacecraft used ion propulsion to become the first spacecraft to orbit two celestial bodies: the large asteroid Vesta in 2011 and the dwarf planet Ceres in 2015, where the spacecraft is still at work today. In addition, more than 100 communications satellites use small ion thrusters to correct their orbital positions.
Damn those Pesky Berenst#in Bears!