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NASA Fires Up Powerful Lithium-Fed Thruster for Trips to Mars - NASA

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A technology that could propel crewed missions to Mars and robotic spacecraft throughout the solar system was recently put to the test at NASA’s Jet

A prototype of a lithium-fed magnetoplasmadynamic thruster was tested in a special chamber at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in February 2026. With further development, thrusters like this could be part of a nuclear electric propulsion system powering human missions to Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech A technology that could propel crewed missions to Mars and robotic spacecraft throughout the solar system was recently put to the test at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. On Feb. 24, for the first time in years and at power levels exceeding any previous test in the…

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