In the field of space rocket engines are dependant on chemical propulsion and almost all of the spacecrafts are using some kind of chemical rocket for launching and attitude control. Researchers have been studying electric propulsion and EP systems have been found out to being down the required propellant mass as compared to traditional chemical rockets.
Researchers are working on a new EP system which utilizes electrostatically charged and accelerated nanoparticles as propellant. Fitting into one square cm of space these micron sized nanoparticle enable fabrication of highly scaleable thruster arrays.
University of Michigan researchers are utilizing nanoparticles as propellant with micro and nano-electromechanical systems. The technology is named nanoparticle field extraction thruster or nanoFET and as per this concept the highly efficient and variable specific engine type can be scaled for a number of space and exploration missions. If this experiment turned out to be successful then nanotechnology would adorn the world of space exploration.
Via nanowerk
