Electrically propelled rocket engines!!...

Well it seems what I am going to talk about would sound a bit out of the context when the little maestro has taken whole of the country to the peak of pride with hid double ton..but still bear with me as its the last day to blog!!:)..
I was going through an article in a magazine which I thought it would be interesting if I share it with you all...Conventional rockets propel ahead using chemical propellants..but if an expedition to Mars from Low Earth orbit requires a 'delta-v' of around 4-5kms/s...delta-v being the increase of velocity due to ejection of exhausts..So that calls for two-thirds of spacecraft's mass to be propellant...while to outer plants requires a delta v of 35-70 kms/s demanding 99.98% of the spacecraft be filled with fuel..

Scientists had come up a solution for this issue where in 'plasma' concept is being utilized..Here instead of chemical fuels, plasma engine accelerates plasmas - clouds of electrically charged molecules to very high velocities. By subjecting gas to strong electric fields, it turns them into ionized gas, where the motion backwards can be accelerated by application of electric field, thus providing thrust and electric power would be generated from solar panels.

One of the models which follow this principle is Hall thruster..Here when an electric discharge between +ive & -ive terminals tears through a neutral gas inside. Resulting plasma fluid is then accelerated out of the cylindrical engine by the Lorentz force, which results from interaction of an applied radial magnetic field & an electrical current that flows in an azimuthal direction, ie in a circular orbit around anode. Depending on available power, the delta v can range from 10-50kms/s...but its still waiting to come out of the simulation stage due to some technical difficulties..It had successfully initiated test flight but lasted for half hour only before it fell back to earth..
I understand a few technical words have crept in but guess atleast u could make out what is the principle behind its functioning...have a great day!!