I believe this piece is purely meant to be an informational piece. The author presents no opinion to the audience and has no purpose to write said article outside of educating the reader.
“A couple of years ago, researchers at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre discovered a thruster system which actually generates thrust, despite requiring absolutely no propellant.”
(Paragraph 1, Line 1)
Personally, I do not believe this is a quality opening hook, simply because it would only be engaging towards and audience with previous knowledge of astrophysics and space travel. This opening statement might befuddle some readers causing them to turn away from the article.
I believe the target audience of this article is those who already