A new engine, the CubeSat Ambipolar Thruster, could allow fleets of tiny, inexpensive probes to roam the Solar System, thus slashing the cost of unmanned space exploration. CAT works on the same principle as ion engines that are already used in deep space missions, but on a much smaller scale. Powered by solar panels, CAT's fuel could be as simple as water.
CAT would allow extremely small probes to undertake a variety of missions cheaply. Perhaps the most intriguing would be a mission to search for life on Jupiter's moon Europa for only $1 million.
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