air-breathing plasma engines

[JAB]

An engine that can conjure thrust from thin air? We speak to the
designer

Interview Will satellites be capable of generating their own thrust
with propellant created out of thin air one day? Scientists at the
George Washington University (GWU) and Princeton Plasma Physics
Laboratory reckon so.

https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/09/darpa_apeb_project_interview/

[Julieta Shem]

Post by JAB
An engine that can conjure thrust from thin air? We speak to the
designer
Interview Will satellites be capable of generating their own thrust
with propellant created out of thin air one day? Scientists at the
George Washington University (GWU) and Princeton Plasma Physics
Laboratory reckon so.
https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/09/darpa_apeb_project_interview/

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
The Reg: Can you explain how APEBs work?

​​A.T.: Air goes inside an engine and there's an electron gun that emits
high energy electrons. Those high energy electrons interact with the air
and ionize the particles; it's a chain reaction called ionization. Then
they will be excited and emit light that glows. Plasma is created from
the charges, the positive ions and negative electrons. Now you have
electromagnetic fields, and you have a perpendicular magnetic field. The
charged particles get accelerated by the Lorentz force to generate
thrust.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

[JAB]

Post by Julieta Shem
Air goes inside an engine and there's an electron gun that emits
high energy electrons.

Question is, how much current is required to make a air-breathing
plasma engine?

No such thing as a free lunch in physics.