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7 points•1 comments•4h ago•by TORcicada•theopenreader.org ↗

NASA Tests Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster in Milestone for Crewed Mars Propulsion

JPL engineers ignited a lithium-fed magnetoplasmadynamic thruster prototype, achieving up to 120 kilowatts—the highest power level recorded for an electric propulsion system in the United States. The February 24, 2026 test, conducted in JPL’s CoMeT vacuum facility, was publicly announced by NASA on April 28, 2026 and is part of a broader Space Nuclear Propulsion program aimed at developing a megawatt-class system for crewed Mars missions. The program notes that no MPD thruster has flown in space to date.

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