Electric propulsion (EP) continues to make enabling contributions to Earth and solar system science. NASA's Dawn spacecraft, powered by its ion propulsion system (IPS), has left the protoplanet Vesta and is now cruising toward a 2015 arrival at the dwarf planet Ceres. Through September of this year, IPS has operated over 25,000 hr, provided a delta-V of over 7 km/sec, and consumed 262 kg of xenon propellant.
展开▼
机译：电力推进（EP）继续为地球和太阳系科学做出贡献。由其离子推进系统（IPS）供电的美国宇航局（NASA）黎明航天器已离开原行星Vesta，目前正准备在2015年到达矮人谷神星（Ceres）。到今年9月，IPS的运行时间已超过25,000小时，提供的德尔塔V超过7 km / sec，消耗了262 kg氙气推进剂。
展开▼
