ESA's BepiColombo spacecraft has fired up all four of its ion thrusters as it begins the first of 22 burn arcs. The high-tech engines that use xenon as a propellant were powered up on December 17 at 1:45 pm CET (12:45 GMT) and will fire for two months as they propel the unmanned probe on the start of its 9-billion-km (5.6-billion-mi) journey to explore the planet Mercury.
.. Continue Reading BepiColombo spacecraft begins two-month ion thrustCategory: Space
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from New Atlas (Gizmag) https://ift.tt/2EE8TMs
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