This 1960s color film (Ref. #HQ-96) produced for NASA’s Division of Educational Programs and Services by Technical Communications, Inc. of Los Angeles, California relies on limited animation to illustrate hypothetical means of early space exploration. Produced prior to the Apollo 11 moon landing of 1969, this educational short underscores the potential benefits of electrical propulsion engines over chemical and nuclear options and visualizes as-yet unrealized goals of the U.S. space program. (TRT: 23:32).

Animated illustrations: A starscape. Earth, with a spacecraft’s orbit encircling the planet before exiting the frame (0:07). A triangular spacecraft carrying a satellite dish antennae. A direct path of flight leads the slower second craft to reach Jupiter first (0:39). An artist’s rendering of a foreign planet’s surface (1:26). The NASA logo and opening titles: “Electric Propulsion” (1:35). A rocket shoots toward a distant planet. A booster rocket staged for takeoff from a tower on a launch pad (2:12). A spacecraft burns fuel, then jettisons a 2nd rocket stage (2:47). Mars and a passing satellite (3:26). A lunar landing module approaches the moon’s surface. Possible methods for transporting payloads of equipment to the moon in advance of a landing are conceptualized. Progressively larger rockets are outlined. In-flight refueling methods are imagined (4:01). Fiery rocket combustion engines burn fuel during NASA propulsion tests (5:16). A cutaway illustration of a nuclear reactor in a hydrogen-powered rocket (5:56). An electric propulsion engine is similarly depicted, emitting dotted rays of energy (6:22). An electric thruster engine illustrated in closeup. Text overlay: “Thrust x Time = Total Impulse” and calculation showing the slow and steady theory of electrical thrust economy (7:12). “Specific Impulse = Impulse/1lb. of fuel” (8:25). A flaming chemical rocket engine in cutaway, followed by a nuclear engine, and a more efficient electric engine (8:31). A graph shows a balance between electricity and fuel economy (9:11). An out-of-scale spacecraft approaches a planet (9:33). A solar cell power source connected to an electric engine (9:58). An electrothermal engine illustration depicts a burning arc. An electrothermal engine undergoes lab testing in an AVCO vacuum chamber (10:41). Montage of electromagnetic devices. An illustration of an electrostatic engine. An electrostatic engine from Hughes Research Laboratories (11:38). Engineers from Electro-Optical systems, Inc. at a large test console. An array of multiple engines is constructed (12:41). Engineers prepare a rocket engine for a fight test (13:45). Illustrations resume. A satellite. A path of orbit around Earth. A small engine. A communications satellite (14:26). An orbiting line spirals outward from Earth (15:31). The moon (15:51). The dome of an imaginary U.S. moon base (16:49). Silhouettes of many rockets prepared for launch side-by-side (17:08). A graph favors electrical propulsion (17:32). A manned Mars expedition is imagined, with five spaceships assembling while low in Earth’s orbit. The completed rhombus-shaped concept craft (18:22). A fleet of five such vehicles “for safety purposes” (19:30). A “piggyback” chemical vehicle detaches, lands on Mars, returns (20:18). Gloved hands adjust a beaker in a Hughes vacuum tube (20:59). Montage of engine systems in closeup. Review of previous animations (21:29). End credits. Written, produced, and directed by Leon Vickman; Art direction and animation by Fritz Miller and K. Bundy; Music by Jaime Mendoza-Nava (23:00).

This film was produced in cooperation with: NASA’s Lewis Research Center; Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); AVCO Corporation; Electro-Optical Systems, Inc.; Hughes Aircraft Company.

Electric Propulsion (EP) is a class of space propulsion which makes use of electrical power to accelerate a propellant by different possible electrical and/or magnetic means. The use of electrical power enhances the propulsive performances of the EP thrusters compared with conventional chemical thrusters.

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