Very cool! I’m disappointed this isn’t getting more coverage in the U.S.. The European Space Agency has put an ion drive-based ship in orbit around the Moon.

The cool thing here is it is a very clean, light design. It doesn’t carry heavy fuels to combust, it uses only xenon gas. It gets the electricity from solar panels, then splits the xenon ions up and emits only ions. Slow acceleration, but it builds up in space without any drag. This is the clean, light, (potentially) fast space drive of the future!

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041115-024454-5382r.htm