Big plans for small spacecraft
It’s hard to miss the rocket engine in Paulo Lozano’s MIT office. The 100-lb. propulsion system — about as big as a car’s tire and built almost entirely of stainless steel — sits in a large glass showcase. The engine is the type of bulky hardware that powers many of today’s spacecraft to the moon, planets and far-off asteroids like Ceres and Vesta.In contrast, it’s relatively easy to overlook a very small package that sits amid some clutter on Lozano’s desk. Though unassuming at first glance, the device — the size and weight of a Lego brick — may be the future of space propulsion, one day taking the place of bulkier, more expensive rocket engines. Paulo Lozano Photo: Bryce Vickmark Lozano, an associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, is designing tiny ion thrusters to cheaply and efficiently propel shoebox-sized satellites, known as “CubeSats,” through space....