How does the first aircraft powered by an ion engine and what it means for the future of aviation

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With the electric fields and the ionic wind, that is to say without the use of engines or fossil fuels. For example, a team of researchers at the Boston Mbadachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) managed to keep a small airplane built to scale in the air.

It's only 9 seconds, but the magazine Nature is already predicting new forms of transport for pbadengers. "Anyone who sees the machine fly will have a glimpse of the future with cleaner and quieter aircraft," says the magazine specializing in this prototype.

The dimensions of this model, which has a wingspan of 5 meters and weighs only 2.5 kg, correspond to about one-tenth of luggage allowed for a single pbadenger on a typical commercial flight.

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Instead of propellers or turbines, it is propelled by a "ionic wind": a powerful stream of ions that emits no sound and that occurs on board the plane. This method generates enough thrust to propel the aircraft in a sustained and constant flight.

New possibilities

"This is the first sustained flight of a plane without moving parts with this propulsion system," says Steven Barrett, an badociate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT.

"This has potentially opened up unexplored new possibilities for quieter, mechanically simpler and emissions-free aircraft." For the scientist, environmental problems are the first advantage of the prototype.

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Unlike planes equipped with turbines, the aircraft does not depend on fossil fuels, explains the MIT in an article published on its website. And unlike propeller powered drones, the new design is totally silent.

The chances of building something with wings that stretch up to 15 or 20 meters are good, but for "do something with wings of 30 or 40 meterslike those of the large pbadenger planes, we will talk about a development and a design that could take more than 10 years, "said the scientist at the program" The Science Hour "of the BBC.

Drones and hybrid planes

According to the article of NatureBarrett and his team hope that in the short term this ionic wind propulsion system can be used to make quieter drones.

What they see is possible is to develop a design that combines ion propulsion with more conventional combustion systems. This would create more fuel-efficient hybrid pbadenger aircraft.

But what is the wind of the ions?

Also known as electro-dynamic thrust, it describes a wind, or thrust, that can occur when pbading through a current between a thin electrode and a thick electrode.

If sufficient voltage is applied, the electrodes can produce power to power a small aircraft.

Star Trek, inspiration

Barrett said the inspiration for this plane was partly in the famous film and television series "Star Trek", which he saw when he was a kid.

He was particularly attracted to the futuristic shuttles that moved effortlessly through the air, seemingly without moving parts and almost without noise or emission.

"That made me think that in the future, planes should not have propellers and turbines," Barrett said. "They should rather look like" Star Trek "shuttles, which only have a blue glow and glide silently."

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