New lithium-plasma engine passes key Mars propulsion test | HappeningNow.news
Published Date: June 15, 2026

Science · 1 views

New lithium-plasma engine passes key Mars propulsion test

You're on the fourth human mission to Mars, and you're told the Odyssey spacecraft designed to take you there will be the smoothest ride you'll ever take.

Source Phys.org AI Summary Updated May 1, 2026
Story intelligence Beta
Freshness Stale Updated May 1, 2026
Confidence Limited Single-outlet story
Coverage Single outlet
Views 1 Community interest
Read time 1 min ~107 words

AI Summary

You're on the fourth human mission to Mars, and you're told the Odyssey spacecraft designed to take you there will be the smoothest ride you'll ever take. It features a newly christened electric propulsion engine which was in the late stages of testing during the first three missions. The mission starts and the spacecraft travels at a crawl, and you wonder if it's broken. A week goes by and you're now traveling at more than 400,000 kilometers (250,000 miles) per hour, and your mind is blown as to how fast you're going, how quickly that happened, and that this mission might be more awesome than you thought.

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