ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Nano-particle field extraction thruster

Have you ever played with magnets before? You know how magnets can push and pull things without touching them, right? Well, scientists have invented something that uses tiny magnets called "nano-particles" to move a spaceship through space!

The nano-particle field extraction thruster works kind of like this: imagine a spaceship with little magnets all over it. Then, imagine a bunch of tiny magnets floating nearby. When the spaceship turns on its special machine, it creates a magnetic field that attracts the floating magnets. These tiny magnets (or particles!) stick to the spaceship and then get pushed off again by the magnetic field. This push is what propels the spaceship forward!

It might seem like a tiny push wouldn't do much, but when you have a lot of nano-particles all pushing at the same time, it can really make the spaceship move quickly through space. Scientists think that using nano-particles to propel spaceships could be a useful way to travel really long distances, like going to other planets or even other galaxies!

So, to sum up: the nano-particle field extraction thruster is a special machine that uses tiny magnets called nano-particles to push a spaceship through space. It's like having a magnet on one end of the spaceship and all the other little magnets in the galaxy being attracted to it and pushing it forward! Cool, huh?