NASA’s longshot bet on a revolutionary rocket may be about to pay off
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Re: NASA’s longshot bet on a revolutionary rocket may be about to pay off
#2"Such an engine design offers a couple of key benefits over most existing propulsion technology. Perhaps most notably, unlike chemical rockets, Vasimr operates on electricity. As it flies through space, therefore, it does not need massive fuel tanks or a huge reservoir of liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel. Instead, the rocket just needs some solar panels".
Sounds incredible. I wish him the best of luck.
Re: NASA’s longshot bet on a revolutionary rocket may be about to pay off
#3"Such an engine design offers a couple of key benefits over most existing propulsion technology. Perhaps most notably, unlike chemical rockets, Vasimr operates on electricity. As it flies through space, therefore, it does not need massive fuel tanks or a huge reservoir of liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel. Instead, the rocket just needs some solar panels". Sounds incredible. I wish him the best of luck.
Electric propulsion has existed and been flown for decades.
Many commercial satellites use it for station keeping.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_with_electr...
Re: NASA’s longshot bet on a revolutionary rocket may be about to pay off
#4"Such an engine design offers a couple of key benefits over most existing propulsion technology. Perhaps most notably, unlike chemical rockets, Vasimr operates on electricity. As it flies through space, therefore, it does not need massive fuel tanks or a huge reservoir of liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel. Instead, the rocket just needs some solar panels". Sounds incredible. I wish him the best of luck.
Electric propulsion has existed and been flown for decades. Many commercial satellites use it for station keeping. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_with_electr...
The difference is this one can scale up the power/efficiency ratio on demand.
Re: NASA’s longshot bet on a revolutionary rocket may be about to pay off
#5FTA: "And at a time when the national discourse assails the value of Spanish-speaking immigrants..."
What a load. Aside from the repellent need by the author to inject politics into a science story, it's flat-out wrong: the rancor isn't over people who (like Chang-Díaz) pursue legal citizenship or legal residency, nor is it over people who speak a particular language simply on the basis of that language.
Re: NASA’s longshot bet on a revolutionary rocket may be about to pay off
#6"Such an engine design offers a couple of key benefits over most existing propulsion technology. Perhaps most notably, unlike chemical rockets, Vasimr operates on electricity. As it flies through space, therefore, it does not need massive fuel tanks or a huge reservoir of liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel. Instead, the rocket just needs some solar panels". Sounds incredible. I wish him the best of luck.
You would need two of these ion engines side by side, with solar panels say outside those and a bubble cockpit in front center with... :P
Re: NASA’s longshot bet on a revolutionary rocket may be about to pay off
#7One thing I don't quite get is their claim that the rocket would need "just some solar panels" instead of a fuel tank when in the paragraph before that they talk about exhausting argon-based plasma.
If there is a propellant, you'd need to store that somewhere first, right? Does each particle of the propellant exit the rocket with much higher energy? Or can Argon be stored in a much denser form than other fuels?
Re: NASA’s longshot bet on a revolutionary rocket may be about to pay off
#8One thing I don't quite get is their claim that the rocket would need "just some solar panels" instead of a fuel tank when in the paragraph before that they talk about exhausting argon-based plasma. If there is a propellant, you'd need to store that somewhere first, right? Does each particle of the propellant exit the rocket with much higher energy? Or can Argon be stored in a much denser form than other fuels?
Specific impulse or Isp is what you want. And yes, ion thrust takes a lot less propellant. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_thruster
However, this is not really 'new' tech. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Space_1 used an early version in 1998.
Re: NASA’s longshot bet on a revolutionary rocket may be about to pay off
#9One thing I don't quite get is their claim that the rocket would need "just some solar panels" instead of a fuel tank when in the paragraph before that they talk about exhausting argon-based plasma. If there is a propellant, you'd need to store that somewhere first, right? Does each particle of the propellant exit the rocket with much higher energy? Or can Argon be stored in a much denser form than other fuels?
Yes, the claim is entirely wrong. The rocket still needs propellant. It just uses electricity to eject the propellant at much higher speeds than usual chemical reactions.
Re: NASA’s longshot bet on a revolutionary rocket may be about to pay off
#10How are those superconducting magnets cooled?