The ion drive works by bombarding the fuel source with electric arcs, which causes ions to be discarded. These ions then move through a magnetic nozzle, resulting in forward propulsion.
The innovative part of Neumann`s drive is the type of fuel that was used.
While High Power Electric Propulsion (HiPEP) system runs on xenon gas, Neumann`s ion drive can instead run on various metals, many of which can be found in space junk.
When it comes to acceleration, HiPEP may not be ideal to launch a spacecraft off a planet.
The current record holder for fuel efficiency of an ion drive is NASA with its High Power Electric Propulsion (HiPEP) system, which allows 9,600 seconds of impulse.
This is a measure of thruster efficiency and is sometimes called `bounce per ounce`. The new drive developed by Neumann has achieved up to 14,690, according to student newspaper Honi Soit.
Neumann said it could power a spacecraft to "Mars and back on one tank of fuel".
Neumann has applied for a patent and will be presenting his results on the 15th Australian Space Research Conference on September 30.
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