NASA Tests Dual Mode Propulsion CubeSat Ahead of Launch
Spacecraft propulsion traditionally relies on volatile fuels and separate, bulky systems for different types of maneuvering in space. NASA is working to change that paradigm. Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recently completed a rigorous series of environmental and physical tests on a new small satellite designed to make spaceflight safer and more efficient. The ASCENT (Advanced Spacecraft Energetic Non-Toxic) Propulsion Dual Mode mission is a flight demonstration of a spacecraft about the size of a large shoebox. The mission will test a single, integrated propulsion system that uses a common fuel tank to feed two different types of engines. Dr. Nehemiah Williams, the demonstration’s project manager at NASA, prepares to start testing the mission’s flight hardware in a clean room at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The mission will demonstrate a single, non-toxic propulsion system that combines both hi...
