NASA

The Ion drive is a type of electric propulsion that uses ions to produce thrust. These types of drives are much more efficient than traditional chemical rockets, but they produce much less thrust. This means that ion drives are best suited for long-duration missions where high acceleration is not required. The development of ion drives can be traced back to the early 1900s. In 1906, Robert Goddard proposed using ion propulsion to power a spacecraft to the Moon. However, it was not until the 1950s that ion drives began to be seriously developed. One of the pioneers of ion propulsion…