Login | Register
The Engineer's Place for News and Discussion®


Engineering News

Latest news of interest to engineers. Sourced from GlobalSpec's Engineering News
Previous in Blog: NASA Unveils Tentative Travel Plans for Mars Rover   Next in Blog: Hackers Backdoor the Human Brain, Successfully Extract Sensitive Data
Close

Comments Format:






Change Mode
Close

Subscribe to Discussion:

CR4 allows you to "subscribe" to a discussion
so that you can be notified of new comments to
the discussion via email.

Close

Rating Vote:







Add Vote
9 comments
Subscribe Rate this Comments: Nested

MIT 'Microthrusters' Are the Size of a Penny, Could Reposition Tiny Satellites

Posted August 18, 2012 12:15 PM

From Engadget:

Bus-sized satellites require massive engines for even the slightest movements, but as far smaller structures become a possibility, a tiny driving mechanism can offer usable thrust. To serve this next-gen tech, MIT saw a need to develop "microthrusters," which are each the size of a penny and can be mounted to tiny cubed satellites. With thruster components measuring a few microns each, the magnetic levitation system is able to accommodate 500 microscopic tips that emit ion beams in a very small package, serving to push two-pound structures through space.

Read the whole article

Reply

Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.

Comments rated to be "almost" Good Answers:

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, rate them!
europium
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 2210
Good Answers: 84
#1

Re: MIT 'Microthrusters' Are the Size of a Penny, Could Reposition Tiny Satellites

08/18/2012 1:54 PM

Here is the link to MIT's own news release, rather than Engadget's parroting of it.

Engadget puts up an advert which blocks your reading of the article. Moreover, clicking on the advert's go-away button can be hijacked. Even if not, you shouldn't have to wade through this 'in-your-face' crap just to read a newsworthy article.
Reply
yamdankee
Power-User
CR4 Admins - CR4 Admin - CR4 Admin

Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 293
Good Answers: 16
#4
In reply to #1

Re: MIT 'Microthrusters' Are the Size of a Penny, Could Reposition Tiny Satellites

08/18/2012 9:25 PM

Have you updated your antivirus and other antimalware programs and ran them yet? I have not ever seen Engadget do that. The link goes straight to the article with no interruption.
Reply Off Topic (Score 5)
europium
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 2210
Good Answers: 84
#5
In reply to #4

Re: MIT 'Microthrusters' Are the Size of a Penny, Could Reposition Tiny Satellites

08/18/2012 9:49 PM

Yep. I run Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete, run the anti-malware scan every bootup and every day if my 'puter's on for longer periods. It has found nothing as of yet, but I did mention in my PurpleFlag thread what I did about that. Also running AdBlock on Chrome, but I wish NoScript (which is much better) would find its way into Chrome as well. So far it works only on Firefox.
Reply Off Topic (Score 5)
Tornado
Guru
Technical Fields - Technical Writing - New Member Engineering Fields - Piping Design Engineering - New Member

Join Date: May 2009
Location: Ketchikan, AK, USA
Posts: 12930
Good Answers: 463
#2

Re: MIT 'Microthrusters' Are the Size of a Penny, Could Reposition Tiny Satellites

08/18/2012 2:57 PM

It's called "turning on a dime"!

__________________
In vino veritas; in cervisia carmen; in aqua E. coli.
Reply Score 1 for Good Answer
No more "Almost" Good Answers.
europium
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 2210
Good Answers: 84
#3
In reply to #2

Re: MIT 'Microthrusters' Are the Size of a Penny, Could Reposition Tiny Satellites

08/18/2012 3:17 PM

GA!
Reply Off Topic (Score 5)
Wal
Guru

Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Phnom Penh
Posts: 2371
Good Answers: 66
#6

Re: MIT 'Microthrusters' Are the Size of a Penny, Could Reposition Tiny Satellites

08/19/2012 3:18 AM

Article didn't mention what the propellant was.

__________________
Difficulty is not an obstacle it is merely an attribute.
Reply
europium
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 2210
Good Answers: 84
#7
In reply to #6

Re: MIT 'Microthrusters' Are the Size of a Penny, Could Reposition Tiny Satellites

08/19/2012 2:05 PM

'Ionic fluid'. K-Mart is having a Blue Light special on it even as we speak: Fanta Grape-flavoured soda. (Don't bother with Orange. It's total impulse is fully half).

Reply Off Topic (Score 5)
Wal
Guru

Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Phnom Penh
Posts: 2371
Good Answers: 66
#8
In reply to #7

Re: MIT 'Microthrusters' Are the Size of a Penny, Could Reposition Tiny Satellites

08/19/2012 10:16 PM

...you been hitting the kool aid again?

__________________
Difficulty is not an obstacle it is merely an attribute.
Reply Off Topic (Score 5)
europium
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 2210
Good Answers: 84
#9
In reply to #8

Re: MIT 'Microthrusters' Are the Size of a Penny, Could Reposition Tiny Satellites

08/19/2012 10:35 PM

Grape Fanta you mean? Love the stuff. Can bring some by in about three milliseconds if you've got the time.

Reply Off Topic (Score 5)
Reply to Blog Entry 9 comments
Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.

Comments rated to be "almost" Good Answers:

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, rate them!
Copy to Clipboard

Users who posted comments:

europium (5); Tornado (1); Wal (2); yamdankee (1)

Previous in Blog: NASA Unveils Tentative Travel Plans for Mars Rover   Next in Blog: Hackers Backdoor the Human Brain, Successfully Extract Sensitive Data


"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort but where he stands at times of challenge and discovery." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

All times are displayed in US/Eastern (EDT) (Register to change time zone)

Got Something to Say?
Ask a Question
Start a Discussion

Search this Section
General:
Go

Search this Blog
Engineering News:
Go

Search all of CR4
Go

Recent Blog Entries

Blog Tags
2 Time Dimentions 2B R B1 3d printer 9 2 5 B4 1N7 aircraft wings alien Android animal control April 16 April 17 April 18 April 19 April 20 April 23 April 24 April 25 April 27 atlet fork lift trucks atomic structures August 1 August 10 August 15 August 2 August 23 August 27 August 28 August 3 August 7 barzohar batteries Ben Franklin Boomerang BPO Brazil orange picking competition building plans drawing burglary business process outsourcing capital investment op. car CCFL cement details chernobyl civil engineering new material civil engineering tips CO2 compact fluorescent light bulbs Computer Virus Concept construction work deep explain surveying DIGITAL hoarders E El Sayed Sabry Energy energy source February 28 fences without wire or posts Florida citrus picking losses fly in dense atmosphere frames mini clips trailers Free energy frequency Fruit picking invention fuel cells games codes tools gadgets gear golf clubs gps fences grand canyon H Hadron Collider Howward hurricanes I AM B 4U I CU 4U UC2 Internet access IT January 8 July 11 July 13 July 16 July 18 July 20 July 23 July 26 July 30 July 31 July 5 June 1 June 11 June 12 June 13 June 14 June 15 June 18 June 21 June 22 June 25 June 26 June 27 June 28 June 29 June 4 June 5 June 6 June 7 Kelly labor omnia lasers LEGO Light Polluion effort material management Math: E=Mc2 May 15 May 16 May 17 May 18 May 2 May 21 May 22 May 23 May 24 May 25 May 29 May 30 May 31 May 7 May 8 mini club car overhead loader N navy new building technology new technology development October 17 October 19 October 5 October 9 old flame OLPC Olympics 2012 ONE O' N ONE OneWebDay2008 orange picker panasonic pasma pigeon code Please send my Boss too Plugs Post-It potato plastic ppp railgun robot evolution robots SaaS Sally Ride sensors September 13 September 14 September 17 September 18 September 3 September 7 Sock Vendor software as a service solar energy spain's solar plant SRB SS Stonehenge ancient ruins Sulphur Hexafluoride sunset T-50 Tapped In Trike Trills r affairs loans a bust. Tunguska Event U Units USER virtual fences wave hub Weather Models WIG wikipedia wind energy is energy of south to north sliding of wireless cattle fences X-47B zombie

CR4 Sections
Aerospace
BioMech & BioMed
Chemical & Material Science
Civil Engineering
Communications & Electronics
Education and Engineering Careers
Electrical Engineering
General
Instrumentation
Manufacturing
Mechanical Engineering
New Technologies & Research
Software & Programming
Sustainable Engineering
Transportation

Site Directories
Forum Directory
Blog Directory
User Group Directory
RSS Feeds
CR4 Store

CR4 Rules of Conduct
CR4 FAQ
Site Glossary

Who's Online (84 right now)
Show Members