The X3 Ion Engine Test Break Thrust Records

Universe Today ^ | 10/27/2017 | Matt Williams

[RedWing9]

achieving 5.4 newtons of force compared with the old record of 3.3 newtons.

And how many HP is Newton?

[Phlyer]

And how many HP is Newton?

Newton is not a power measure. It's a force measure - like pounds. 5.4nt of force is about 1.1 pounds.

[Sparticus]

5.4 Newtons is about 19.29 ounces of constant thrust. That doesn’t sound like much but if the thrust is constant in a vacuum it can add up to a whole lot of speed over a period of time.

[palmerizedCaddis]

I’m older than dirt but it used to be 1 hp = 746 nm/sec.
I think

Caddis the Elder

[Ozark Tom]

The mass of the electrical power source will be a limit factor to the overall vehicle performance. Nuclear or +400 sq. meters of solar collector for Mars operation at rated power?

[Crucial]

Maybe you could add a nuclear reactor to it to power the magnetic field.

[Campion]

Force x distance is energy. Energy per unit time is power. One newton over a distance of one meter every second is one watt. One horsepower is just under 746 watts.

5.4 newtons of force isn't much. Still, in space, where there's no friction loss, 5.4 newtons applied to one ton of mass for a week gives it another 1600 mph of velocity.

[blueunicorn6]

Can it do the quarter mile in sub 13?

[ak267]

NASA first developed nuclear propulsion from 1965-1972 under the NERVA Project.

Scientists were so ecstatic with the results they boasted of sending astronauts to Mars in 1980 and Saturn in 1990.

WIKI
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA

[DarthFuzball]

How fast is that in Furlongs per Fortnight?

[BenLurkin]

‘the Kessel Run in fourteen parsecs’

[thepoodlebites]

>I’m older than dirt but it used to be 1 hp = 746 nm/sec.

Correct, 1 hp = 746 N-m/s or 746 W.
We may be old but we be right.

-Frank

[thepoodlebites]

‘the Kessel Run in fourteen parsecs’

Twelve.
Compressed distance that much? Impressive.

-Frank

[Steely Tom]

And how many HP is Newton?

If you're moving at 17,500 mph, and the newton in question is oriented in your direction of motion, that newton is doing almost 10.5 HP worth of work on you.

So 5.4 newtons would be doing 56.6 HP of work on you, which — if sustained over many months — would add up to quite a lot of "delta-V," or acceleration.

5.4 newtons for an ion engine is stupendous. Last time I checked, they were generating forces measured in milli-newtons. I remember them being compared to the force generated by the weight of a piece of paper. This represents very impressive progress IMHO.

There are 4.45 newtons per pound.

[Doctor DNA]

Thats going to leave trails of gas all over the system.

How long would it take the solar wind to disperse the smell.

Bad enough our comets smell like cat pee.

That’s gonna affect our extra-solar tourist industry.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin Ion engines might be great for interstellar probes, provided the craft got a huge initial boost from a multistage direct ascent vehicle. But it's fantasy to think they'll take humans to Mars in 35 days (there's a YT vid about this, or more than one). Bumpin' the APoD listers.

[doorgunner69]

Remember about those as a teenager. Radioactive as hell, had remote tugs to pull them in and out for testing. No one could get close.

[HippyLoggerBiker]

1 Furlong per Fortnight would equal...
0.218 ft/hr (or about 0.00006 ft per sec), a measure of velocity not acceleration.

(Also)
5.4 Newtons = 1.2 lbs

The resulting acceleration would be dependent on the time that the force was applied, the mass being accelerated and the friction coefficient (in space approaches zero).

help me out if I got something wrong.

Regards,
HLB

[dangerdoc]

Off topic but this thread makes me wonder if there has been any progress on the EM drive, the Chinese claim to have a working model.