A Space & astronomy forum. SpaceBanter.com

Go Back   Home » SpaceBanter.com forum » Space Science » Technology
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Serious propulsion



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
  #1  
Old January 30th 05, 11:16 PM
Allen Thomson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Serious propulsion

Probably such things have been hashed out before, but allow me to
solicit the opinion of the readership on this question that has
come up in some off-line discussions:

Supposing you wanted a reactive propulsion system -- say a
nuclear rocket, electrical thruster, mass driver or other
throw-mass-out-the-back widget that had continuous thrust =
1 kN, ISP = 10,000 sec (= 100 km/sec Ve) and a total run
time = 1 megasecond or greater, preferably getting toward
10 Ms.

If it needs a reactor or other power supply, plumbing,
radiators to get rid of excess heat, etc., ignore that and
concentrate on the thrust-producing part. It's ok to have a
system composed of shorter lifetime parts if that helps
(e.g., banks of 100 N thrusters with individual lifetimes
of 100,000 seconds that get shed as they burn out).

Does current technology or anything that can be reasonably
foreseen in the next 20 years support anything like that? If
so, what might it be?

 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
A revolutionary propulsion system asps Space Shuttle 49 December 21st 03 09:25 PM
A revolutionary propulsion system Christopher Policy 17 December 21st 03 09:25 PM
A revolutionary propulsion system Franz Heymann Policy 8 December 13th 03 06:29 PM
A revolutionary propulsion system Harry Conover Policy 0 December 11th 03 08:18 PM
Ion Engine Records No Tuneups, No Problems Ron Baalke Technology 3 July 31st 03 10:03 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 12:15 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 SpaceBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.