On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 00:02:36 GMT, Christian Ramos
wrote:


VASIMR, seems to me like a technology toy looking for a real life
solution.
How would you envisage VASIMR being used. Although, given a space based
research program that furthers our understanding into magnetics and
plasmas
things could change, but the benefits are more likely to flow through to
technologies such as the Russian MPD thrusters.



I've looked over MPD and it seems like it produces far lesser thrust per
wight of
gas. I might be wrong.. The idea of VASIMR is to get variable thrust of
significant
% of g force and be able to maintain it over a long time. Getting the
energy from a
reactor greatly reduces the amount of propellant needed. As I've said a
nuclear fission
produces approx 1 000 000 times the amount of energy you would get from a
chemical reaction.
(Not that you can utilize all of it..)

I see it used for manned interplanetary flight.
Particularly continous acceleration means that the peaple are exposed to
cosmic radiation and zero g for much lesser periods of time.

For unmanned flight a ion engine might be a alternative.
(DeepSpace1 et.al)

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