Radical experimental plane with no moving parts wows scientists

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers on Wednesday described successful flight tests at an indoor campus gymnasium of the unmanned airplane powered not by engines that burn fossils fuels but by ion wind propulsion, also called electro-aerodynamic thrust. "This is the first time that an airplane without moving parts has flown," said MIT aerospace engineer Steven Barrett, who drew inspiration from fictional shuttlecraft from "Star Trek." Electrical field strength near an array of thin filaments called emitters at the front of the wing ionizes air, meaning electrons are removed and charged molecules called ions are created. As they move towards the collectors, the ions collide with air molecules, transferring energy to them.