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Home Thousands of mirrors, called heliostats, direct the sun’s energy onto a receiver, which was built using expertise gained from constructing the space shuttle main engine. The NASA spinoff receiver sits on top of a 550-foot tower. (SolarReserve) Thousands of mirrors, called heliostats, direct the sun’s energy onto a receiver, which was built using expertise gained from constructing the space shuttle main engine. The NASA spinoff receiver sits on top of a 550-foot tower. (SolarReserve)

Thousands of mirrors, called heliostats, direct the sun’s energy onto a receiver, which was built using expertise gained from constructing the space shuttle main engine. The NASA spinoff receiver sits on top of a 550-foot tower. (SolarReserve)

Thousands of mirrors, called heliostats, direct the sun’s energy onto a receiver, which was built using expertise gained from constructing the space shuttle main engine. The NASA spinoff receiver sits on top of a 550-foot tower. (SolarReserve)

Thousands of mirrors, called heliostats, direct the sun’s energy onto a receiver, which was built using expertise gained from constructing the space shuttle main engine. The NASA spinoff receiver sits on top of a 550-foot tower. (SolarReserve)

While the Dawn spacecraft is visiting the asteroids Vesta and Ceres, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, has been developing the next generation of ion thrusters for future missions. NASA’s Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) Project has developed a 7-kilowatt ion thruster that can provide the capabilities needed in the future. (NASA)
An engineering test unit for a Stirling generator being tested at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. (NASA)