THRUSTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does thruster mean? 

• THRUSTER (noun)
  The noun THRUSTER has 2 senses:

1. one who intrudes or pushes himself forward

2. a small rocket engine that provides the thrust needed to maneuver a spacecraft

  Familiarity information: THRUSTER used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THRUSTER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

One who intrudes or pushes himself forward

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

pusher; thruster

Hypernyms ("thruster" is a kind of...):

interloper; intruder; trespasser (someone who intrudes on the privacy or property of another without permission)

Derivation:

thrust (make a thrusting forward movement)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A small rocket engine that provides the thrust needed to maneuver a spacecraft

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("thruster" is a kind of...):

rocket; rocket engine (a jet engine containing its own propellant and driven by reaction propulsion)

 Context examples 

On Wednesday, Nov. 29, they learned the TCM thrusters worked perfectly — and just as well as the attitude control thrusters.

(Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years, NASA)

Once they are firing at full capacity, the thrusters can do no more to keep Cassini stably pointed, and the spacecraft will begin to tumble.

(Cassini Spacecraft Makes Its Final Approach to Saturn, NASA)

Telemetry received during the plunge indicates that, as expected, Cassini entered Saturn's atmosphere with its thrusters firing to maintain stability, as it sent back a unique final set of science observations.

(Cassini Spacecraft Ends Its Historic Exploration of Saturn, NASA)

The plan going forward is to switch to the TCM thrusters in January.

(Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years, NASA)

As the atmosphere thickens, the thrusters will be forced to ramp up their activity, going from 10 percent of their capacity to 100 percent in the span of about a minute.

(Cassini Spacecraft Makes Its Final Approach to Saturn, NASA)

Back then, the TCM thrusters were used in a more continuous firing mode; they had never been used in the brief bursts necessary to orient the spacecraft.

(Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years, NASA)

When Cassini first begins to encounter Saturn's atmosphere, the spacecraft's attitude control thrusters will begin firing in short bursts to work against the thin gas and keep Cassini's saucer-shaped high-gain antenna pointed at Earth to relay the mission's precious final data.

(Cassini Spacecraft Makes Its Final Approach to Saturn, NASA)

Now, the Voyager team is able to use a set of four backup thrusters, dormant since 1980.

(Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years, NASA)

On Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017, Voyager engineers fired up the four TCM thrusters for the first time in 37 years and tested their ability to orient the spacecraft using 10-millisecond pulses.

(Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years, NASA)

A set of thrusters aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft successfully fired up Wednesday after 37 years without use.

(Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years, NASA)