L. Brad King is Michigan Tech’s top space researcher.

The young ME-EM faculty member already holds more than $1 million in grants from NASA and the Air Force for projects ranging from plasma thrusters to miniature satellites. King is a recipient of the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Award as well as the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

As part of the Presidential Award, he received a five-year, $500,000 grant to continue his research on high-powered ion propulsion engines which someday could be used for manned space missions to Mars.Ion propulsion engines currently rely on xenon gas for fuel. However, xenon’s price tag—about $3,200 a pound—gives new meaning to the cliche “skyrocketing energy costs.” In his state-of the-art lab at Michigan Tech, King is experimenting with an alternative fuel that could slash the cost of ion propulsion.

Bismuth, a brittle white metal, goes for about $3.60 a pound and is much easier to handle and store. He has developed the critical system that enables bismuth to be used as a propellant—something that could greatly reduce the cost of space travel.

Read this story and others in the
Michigan Tech College of Engineering Newsletter
(3 Mb PDF File)

Or visit the Ion Space Propulsion Lab website

ISP Lab Projects News Page