A prototype of a lithium-fed magnetoplasmadynamic thruster was tested in a special chamber at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in February 2026. With further development, thrusters like this could be part of a nuclear electric propulsion system powering human missions to Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech A technology that could propel crewed missions to Mars and robotic spacecraft throughout the solar system was recently put to the test at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. On Feb. 24, for the first time in years and at power levels exceeding any previous test in the United States, a team fired up an electromagnetic thruster that runs on lithium metal vapor. This prototype achieved power levels beyond the highest-power electric thrusters on any of the agency’s current spacecraft. Valuable data from the first firing of this thruster will help inform an upcoming series of tests. “At NASA, we work on many things at once, and we haven’t lost sight of Mars.…