This is a significant development. It could lead to an explosion of planetary probes, and perhaps a meaningful space tug for transfer from LEO or GTO to GEO.

That being said the fact that the phony Next Generation Enterprise and ion drives both turn blue is not a reason to make stupid analogies that turn the stomach.

Interesting story. Lousy writing.

Dawn Spacecraft Ready To Turn Science Fiction into Reality (Subscription Required)
Aviation Week & Space Technology
07/02/2007, page 56

Craig Covault
Cape Canaveral

Dawn ready to turn science fiction into reality on mission to orbit two infant planets

Printed headline: Blue Light Special

In the classic television series Star Trek, the Starship Enterprise speeds around the galaxy on blue light propulsion beams, then maneuvers into orbit around many different worlds before zooming off again to do more exploration.

Such science fiction becomes fact here as the $446-million NASA Dawn mission is readied for liftoff on an eight-year, 3-billion-mi. journey to the protoplanets Vesta and Ceres (see cover).

Powered by glowing blue beams from its own revolutionary solar electric ion propulsion system (IPS), Dawn is to fly to, then orbit, these two separate bodies hundreds of millions of miles apart. Only science fiction spacecraft have done such things before; Star Trek’s Enterprise did it using antimatter propulsion.

With 935 lb. of xenon fuel, the 2,696-lb. Dawn spacecraft has far more propulsion capability than any previous real spacecraft.

Dawn’s solar electric propulsion system has the ability to accelerate the spacecraft by nearly 7 mi. per sec. over the course of its mission. This is as much velocity change in deep space as it will receive from its entire Delta launch vehicle to reach space, then depart Earth orbit.

Like Star Trek come true, the NASA Dawn spacecraft and its Dutch Space solar arrays spanning nearly 65 ft. (left) will accelerate by about 7 mi. per sec. on blue beams of ion propulsion to orbit two different bodies.Credit: (LEFT SIDE OF SPREAD) NASA/JPL, (RIGHT) STAR TREK BETHSOFT.COM

“That is huge for a planetary mission, it is really incredible velocity capability,” says Mike Mook, the Dawn Orbital Sciences project manager.

A conventional interplanetary spacecraft may burn roughly 660 lb. of propellants during a total of 20 min. of operation in an entire mission, achieving a velocity change of perhaps 3,300 fps. This compares with Dawn’s far greater solar electric capability to increase velocity—to nearly 7 mi. per sec.—over its longer mission life.

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