NASA JSC Solicitation: Variable Specific Impulse Magento-Plasma Rocket – VASIMR “NASA/JSC has a requirement for the acquisition of services to update a magnet fixture with an additional cryocooler for conduction cooling and to eliminate the liquid cyrogen cooling system in preparation for crycooler testing in vacuum and magnetic field combined environments. In addition, Studies will be conducted to evaluate a Lunar Tug concept utilizing Variable Specific Impulse Magneto-plasma Rocket (VASIMR) […]
VASIMR VX-200 Reaches 200 kW Power Milestone (with videos), Ad Astra Rocket Company “Ad Astra Rocket Company’s VASIMR(R) VX-200 rocket prototype reached its highly- coveted 200 kW maximum power milestone at 11:59 am (CST) in tests conducted at the company’s Houston laboratory. The DC power trace actually exceeded the design requirement by 1 kW and exhibited the clear signature of a wellestablished plateau at peak power (see graph). The achievement […]
Franklin Chang-Diaz Talks About Revolutionizing Space Travel, Seed “Dr. Franklin Chang-Diaz believes there’s a better, more modern way of doing business in space. And unlike many other starry-eyed space-age dreamers, Chang has considerable clout to back him up. A former NASA astronaut, he’s flown into orbit on a record seven space shuttle missions, including the one that sent the Galileo spacecraft to Jupiter. And for the past 30 years, Chang […]