/sci/ - Science & Math

>>15722952
I know man but even still its crazy just how slow progress has been, just ended my binge on this and basically since 2015 there has been a trickle of progress from MSFC they didn't even get a NIAC Phase III they didn't yet do all the ground testing required, I don't know if its a lack of funding or what but its depressing to see a highly enabling breakthrough technology just languishing about with little progress

Finns are the only other ones working on it and ESTCube-2 is going up on Vega in a month or so but even that is just to test the plasma brake and not breakthrough propulsion (though they plan to finally reach lunar orbit and return to Earth with ESTCube-3 sometime in 2029)

This .pdf is so far the last update from Marshall on the concept so idk if anything has advanced since then but doesn't look like it, depressing, would think that NASA's highest priority would be to accelerate research on the most promising breakthrough propulsion technology but they are just dicking around with solar sails mostly which are completely inferior for the outer solar system and arguably the inner one as well compared to E-sails.