A Critical History of Electric Propulsion: The First 50 Years (1906-1956)

The first 50 years of the history of electric propulsion (EP) are discussed. The more analytical contributions were mainly concerned with the feasibility of EP rather than with detailed aspects of the devices. The focus of the early EP practitioners was almost exclusively on the electrostatic branch of EP. With the advent of solar cells and the mundane interests in commercial telecommunications and military surveillance brought about by the prosperity and paranoia of the cold-war era that the sights were lowered and EP ushered into its later eras of acceptance and application.