Article 519PK See NASA's Hot, New Moon Lander Thruster Glow-Up During Testing

See NASA's Hot, New Moon Lander Thruster Glow-Up During Testing

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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Thrusters are the unsung heroes of the engine world. They make the small adjustments that help orient a spacecraft. NASA is testing out some next-gen thrusters for its future lunar landers, and they are glowing.

NASA and Frontier Aerospace, which is developing the thrusters, put two prototypes through 60 hot-fire tests in a vacuum chamber in March. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted an animated GIF on Wednesday of one of the prototypes glowing during a test. It looks like the world's most awesome night light.

We're developing next-gen thrusters to be used on @Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander. The vacuum chamber hot-fire tests of a thruster prototype were the first in a series of tests to ready this lightweight, cost-saving technology for space: https://t.co/0gYfRzJC3K pic.twitter.com/Nud3Qq2Vum

- Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine)

The thrusters, which are part of the agency's Thruster for the Advancement of Low-temperature Operation in Space (TALOS) project, use a propellant called MON-25, which should work well in the extremely low temperatures in space. NASA said it will make spacecraft systems smaller, lighter and less expensive.

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