The NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio reports that its Xenon Ion Thruster has operated continuously in a vacuum chamber for 48 000 hours and has now been shut down voluntarily.
The Total Impulse delivered was 30 MNs (million newton seconds) during this test period by the high-velocity ejection of 770 kg of xenon ions. Chemical-propulsion rocket engines can not compete with this performance, except for the initial lift into earth orbit. The next Ion Thruster is to be energized by solar cells to simulate operation on deep space missions.
