By Wikipedia,
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thruster

A thruster is a small propulsive device used by spacecraft and watercraft for station keeping, attitude control, or long duration low thrust acceleration.

Thruster (surfing) is a surfboard fin design.

Spacecraft thrusters

• Electrohydrodynamic thruster, using ionized air (only for use in an atmosphere)
• Electrostatic ion thruster, using high-voltage electrodes
• Hall effect thruster, type of ion thruster
• Ion thruster, beams of ions accelerated electrically
• Magnetoplasmadynamic thruster, electric propulsion using the Lorentz force
• Electrodeless plasma thruster, electric propulsion using ponderomotive force
• Pulsed inductive thruster, a pulsed form of ion thruster
• Pulsed plasma thruster, current arced across a solid propellant

Marine thrusters

• Azimuth thruster, pod underneath a ship, instead of a propeller and rudder
• Bow thruster, on the bow of a ship

Others

• Field Emission Electric Propulsion, very low power
• Monopropellant rocket
• Radioisotope rocket, using heat from radioactive decay
• Shkadov thruster, hypothetical megascale reaction for moving a star
• Spacecraft propulsion
• Magnetohydrodynamic drive
• Coal thruster, a 19th century profession

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Published - July 2009