NASA tested the new proton engine system for spacecraft

According to the US Aerospace Agency (NASA), this is a promising engine system that can take space ships out of the solar system at a much higher rate than today.

It can fly to the solar system's heliumopause within 10 years. Voyager 1 took 35 years to fly to the region, according to NASA.

This system is called E-sail Herts, which can operate without propellant. Instead, it will use the energy from the solar wind to reach the edge of the solar system.

A spaceship will use 10 to 20 charged aluminum wires to create a giant " E-sail " electronic sail . Each aluminum wire has a thickness of only one mm but is longer than 8km, equivalent to 219 football fields.

These electronic sails will propel protons in the solar wind, creating thrust for the spacecraft.

"The Sun releases the protons and electrons at very high speeds, 400 to 750 km / s. E-sail will use these protons to propel the spacecraft," said Bruce Wiegmann, an engineer with the Advanced Concept Office. Marshall and Herts E-sail's basic researcher said.

Engineer Wiegmann is holding E-sail's aluminum wire.(Photo: NASA).

Researchers at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama have begun conducting tests that are expected to take place over two years.

These tests aim to determine the total number of protons deflected by aluminum wires and the number of electrons attracted by these protons.

Engineers will also test plasma, improving data models for future E-sail development steps.

However, according to the researchers, there is still a lot of work to be done and it is expected to take 10 years to put this technology into practice.

In theory, when flying out of space, the effective area of ​​electronic sails will also be upgraded gradually. At the distance of 1 AU astronomical unit, this area is about 600 km ² , but at a distance of 5 AU, it increases to nearly 1,200 km ² .

Normally, the energy of solar photons is lost when a solar sail reaches the 5 AU distance at the asteroid belt, causing the acceleration process to stop. But E-sail continued to accelerate as he crossed this distance, thanks to protons in the solar wind.

"Concerns about stopping acceleration do not apply to protons from the solar wind. With continuous flows of protons and an increase in effective areas, E-sail will continue to accelerate to a distance of 16. up to 20 AU, at least three times higher than the solar sail, the speed will be much higher , " Wiegmann said.

Researchers hope this technology-equipped spacecraft can fly out of the solar system in less than 10 years, while NASA's Voyager 1 ships enter the outer space of the solar system in 2012, 35 years later. upon departure.

In addition, E-sail can be customized for different flights, inside or outside the planets, or to the diary buffer. Each distance will have different requirements in wire length, number of wires and voltage applied.