Large vintage circa 1960s cutaway model of an ion engine from the NASA Glenn/Lewis Research Center, measuring 24″ in diameter and 9″ deep, set upon a three-wheeled metal stand to a height of about 70″. Includes its large 31″ x 31″ x 18″ wooden shipping crate. One quarter of the circular model has been cut away to reveal its interior. In very good to fine condition.
The ion engine was first demonstrated by German-born NASA scientist Ernst Stuhlinger, and developed in practical form by Harold R. Kaufman at NASA Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center from 1957 to the early 1960s. The standard gridded ion thruster is a highly efficient low-thrust spacecraft propulsion design which uses high-voltage grid electrodes to accelerate ions with electrostatic forces.
