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NASA Science Team Testing Innovative Plasma Technology
NASA ^
| 05/02/05
| Steve Roy
Posted on 05/02/2005 3:11:14 PM PDT by KevinDavis
A team of engineers and scientists led by NASA have begun investigating the physics and performance of magnetic nozzles -- innovative devices that could support development of plasma-based propulsion systems.
(Excerpt) Read more at nasa.gov ...
TOPICS: Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: deepspace; nasa; plasma
Excellent............
To: RightWhale; Brett66; xrp; gdc314; sionnsar; anymouse; RadioAstronomer; NonZeroSum; jimkress; ...
2
posted on
05/02/2005 3:12:30 PM PDT
by
KevinDavis
(Let the meek inherit the Earth, the rest of us will explore the stars!)
To: KevinDavis
To: KevinDavis
4
posted on
05/02/2005 3:20:25 PM PDT
by
Paul_Denton
(Get the UN out of the US and US out of the UN!)
To: KevinDavis
Nice and great and good, but getting a lot of electricity to power the device in space might be a bit iffy - really large solar panels are heavy, and so would be a decent size nuclear reactor.
5
posted on
05/02/2005 3:22:11 PM PDT
by
GSlob
To: KevinDavis
This is
very cool stuff!! I first heard about this on Discovery about 6 or 7 years ago. Science fiction sometimes does become science
fact. Let's hope!
6
posted on
05/02/2005 3:26:59 PM PDT
by
Jackknife
(No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.-MacArthur)
To: KevinDavis
7
posted on
05/02/2005 3:46:21 PM PDT
by
Lunatic Fringe
(North Texas Solutions http://ntxsolutions.com)
To: KevinDavis
Variable Specific Magnetoplasma Rocket VASMR
VASMR would be a quick way to get around the solar system.
Real tech that could be used for real space ships.
8
posted on
05/02/2005 4:00:36 PM PDT
by
demlosers
(Rumsfeld: "We don't have an exit strategy, we have a victory strategy.'')
To: KevinDavis
Is this a refinement of ion propulsion technology?
9
posted on
05/02/2005 4:52:22 PM PDT
by
Arkie2
To: GSlob
NASA has a research project under way contracted to the Navy to build a small scale fission reactor to propel an ion drive and provide enormous amounts of electricity for instrumentation. It will be awesome if it gets off the ground.
10
posted on
05/02/2005 4:54:55 PM PDT
by
Arkie2
To: GSlob
Nice and great and good, but getting a lot of electricity to power the device in space might be a bit iffy - really large solar panels are heavy, and so would be a decent size nuclear reactor.Why not use nuclear reactions to produce the actual thrust? Basically a nuclear rocket causes gas to heat up, naturally causing it to expand and you shoot it out the nozzle. The idea has been around since the 60s but never got off the ground.
11
posted on
05/02/2005 5:07:56 PM PDT
by
Paul_Denton
(Get the UN out of the US and US out of the UN!)
To: Paul_Denton
Why not use nuclear reactions to produce the actual thrust? Basically a nuclear rocket causes gas to heat up, naturally causing it to expand and you shoot it out the nozzle. The idea has been around since the 60s but never got off the ground.
The problem with that idea is that you still have to carry around the gas to be heated up, which is the same fundamental problem as traditional chemical rockets - when you're dealing with the speeds and distances of interplanetary (or even interstellar) travel, fuel becomes an incredibly burdensome percentage of total vehicle mass and volume.
A technology is needed such that whatever is thrown out the back of the vehicle for propulsion is gathered along the way and not carried from launch. Once that technology exists, Mars will be the New World of the 21st (22nd?) century.
12
posted on
05/02/2005 6:04:24 PM PDT
by
Turbopilot
(Viva la Reagan Revolucion!)
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