The prototype thruster is enclosed in a condensable metal propellant (CoMeT) vacuum facility at NASA's JPL. NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA engineers recently tested a next-generation electric propulsion system that could one day power a crewed mission to Mars. NASA fired up a prototype of its electromagnetic thruster inside a vacuum chamber, reaching power levels of up to 120 kilowatts—the highest achieved in U.S. tests of an electric propulsion system. That’s over 25 times the power of the electric thrusters aboard the current Psyche mission, which launched in 2023 on a journey to explore a metal-rich asteroid. VIDEO AT LINK.......... “Designing and building...