Engineers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in California, tested a new experimental electric engine that could power astronauts to Mars or robotic missions throughout the solar system. The engine achieved a record-breaking power level of 120 kilowatts, 25 times greater than the electric engines on NASA’s Psyche spacecraft now heading to the asteroid belt.

Electric propulsion systems use up to 90 percent less propellant than chemical rockets, providing steady, gradual acceleration to reach high speeds instead of a single powerful thrust. The new engine uses strong electrical currents and magnetic fields to accelerate the plasma made from lithium. The next step is to scale the engine’s power up to one megawatt. For a crew to reach Mars, the spacecraft would need between two and four megawatts of power for more than 2.6 years.