Am 11 Jul 2003 13:00:41 -0700 schrieb "sanman":

It's been pointed out that ion thrusters are more efficient on Isp,
but they produce less thrust -- too little to be of use for launching
to orbit. By a factor of how much are ion thrusters too weak for
achieving escape velocity?
By how many times would the above system have to be improved to be
used for SSTO?

They are strong enough to be used to accelerate masses - even to solar
system escape velocity (and by principle even up to relativistic
speeds) - but they are not usable for lift purpose, because their
mass-to-thrust ratio is too bad. Their strength is their durability.

I presume that nuclear power can be used to augment the
thrust/efficiency of electric propulsion. Would it be enough?

I would say No. But never say never :-)


cu, ZiLi aka HKZL (Heinrich Zinndorf-Linker)
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