Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR)
Motor de magnetoplasma de impulso específico variable
- Date
- 1977 · confidence medium
- Place
- Houston, Texas, United States
- Credited to
- Franklin Chang-Díaz
- Field
- Movement
What it is
An electric plasma thruster that uses radio waves to ionize and heat an inert propellant and a magnetic field to confine and accelerate it, conceived by astronaut Franklin Chang-Díaz to bridge high-thrust chemical rockets and high-specific-impulse electric propulsion.
It has not yet demonstrated high thrust in flight; its plasma-heating method derives from nuclear fusion research.
What it led to
- Continued research into plasma electric propulsion for long-duration spaceflight
- Advanced propulsion tests for future Mars missions