What a glow-up: Next-gen NASA moon lander thruster looks radiant during hot-fire test
Thrusters are the unsung heroes of the engine world. They make the small adjustments that help orient a spacecraft. NASA is testing out some next-gen thrusters for its future lunar landers, and they are glowing.
NASA and Frontier Aerospace, which is developing the thrusters, put two prototypes through 60 hot-fire tests in a vacuum chamber in March. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted an animated GIF on Wednesday of one of the prototypes glowing during a test. It looks like the world's most awesome night light.
The thrusters, which are part of the agency's Thruster for the Advancement of Low-temperature Operation in Space (TALOS) project, use a propellant called MON-25, which should work well in the extremely low temperatures in space. NASA said it will make spacecraft systems smaller, lighter and less expensive.
"Although MON-25 has been tested since the 1980s, no spacecraft currently uses the propellant," NASA said in a statement Tuesday. If the testing continues to go well, the thrusters will be used in the Peregrine lander under development by space company Astrobotic.
Peregrine is designed to carry small payloads to the moon. NASA hopes to land it on the lunar surface in 2021, one of a group of uncrewed missions scheduled to happen before the space agency sends astronauts back to the moon in 2024 through its Artemis program.
"NASA will soon verify this versatile thruster design for space so that the agency and commercial companies can easily implement the technology in future missions," said NASA project manager Greg Barnett.
You should read it
- Frontier FRNL Laptop - Lighter than MacBook Air
- See the wild magnetic threads NASA found woven into the sun's atmosphere
- Here's your chance to design a NASA payload for a Roomba-sized moon rover
- How to watch NASA and Russia launch a new crew to the ISS on Thursday
- NASA installs the names of 10.9 million space fans on the Mars Perseverance rover
- NASA did April Fools' Day perfectly this year, with a funky potato
- NASA created a game that lets you help map the ocean's coral reefs
- NASA's Perseverance rover is carrying an inspiring coded message to Mars
- Over 12,000 people applied to fly to the moon and Mars as NASA Artemis astronauts
- NASA contemplates turning a moon crater into a giant, powerful telescope
- Explore the universe through 5 NASA websites
- Dead Frontier 2, online zombie hunting survival game has been released for free on Steam
Maybe you are interested
NASA can now communicate with its spacecraft using lasers
Listen to the scary sound of a black hole 250 million light years from Earth announced by NASA
NASA launched two tiny satellites to study the Earth's poles
NASA 'changes' the birth dates of 12 zodiac signs, 86% of people will have their constellation changed to another star sign
NASA found traces of methane gas near a crater on Mars
Clip NASA: 'Glass lake' in the most terrible place in the solar system