THEONE Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 http://www.bmpcoe.org/bestpractices/internal/nasam/nasam_28.html
WSM Posted September 22, 2011 Posted September 22, 2011 http://www.bmpcoe.or...m/nasam_28.html Sounds cool but what can WE do with it?! WSM
NightHawkInLight Posted September 22, 2011 Posted September 22, 2011 Wow, that's really cool. It looks like a huge step forward in extraterrestrial propulsion technology. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this plays out.
Peret Posted September 22, 2011 Posted September 22, 2011 Don't hold your breath. They made a gas plasma with a kind of microwave oven, but that's a very very very long way from a fusion reaction. Also this happened 13 years ago.
NightHawkInLight Posted September 22, 2011 Posted September 22, 2011 Also this happened 13 years ago.Ah look at that. I need to train myself to check for such things.
r1dermon Posted September 23, 2011 Posted September 23, 2011 The near future is ion propulsion. They're talking 1 month to get to mars using an ion thruster. It has extremely low average thrust, but extremely high specific impulse. An average spaceship would accelerate 0-60mph in four days using ion drives from a decade ago. The speed boundary of current liquid fuel rockets is nearly 18000mph. The theoretical limit of an ion motor is 200,000mph.
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