NASA's Ion Engine Runs for Nearly 5 Years: No Problems

spaceref.com ^ | 31 Jul 03 | staff

[Constantine XIII]

Just one question: Where do you keep all of the fuel? :p

[RightWhale]

It wouldn't be appropriate to power a manned passenger ship to Mars with ion motors since ship's systems are complicated by having the life support function that begins to degrade after the passage of fairly short times, but it would be just fine, and economical, for static cargo.

[AFreeBird]

A sample of 1 has no statistical significance.

Actually, it's their second sample. Although the first one is floating around in space somewhere.

[RightWhale]

It is probably no harder to develop the advanced propulsion ideas than it is to work out the logistical nightmare of a two year mission.

You have a good point. Logistics is a major consideration always. In the military and in manned space missions it is the major consideration.

[CanisMajor2002]

(Twin Ion Engine) Fighter

[Jay D. Dyson]

Call me when they hit Warp 1.

Can we page you when they have a Twin Ion Engine (TIE) flyer?

;)

[RJL]

Bistro~math~ics technology

Is this technology 7 people trying to divide up the tab at the neighborhood bar and restaurant?

[cspackler]

Still no match for Infinite Improbability or Bistromathics technology.

But I have an infinite number of monkeys with a script they would like you to read...

[mhking]

Can we page you when they have a Twin Ion Engine (TIE) flyer?

Only if Sienar Fleet Systems fixes that pesky unshielded spot above the exhaust port. Can't leave that open to get my butt shot off...[g]

[techcor]

Get fusion power on-track,

Don't bother waiting for fusion. Use americium-242m which is 100 times as powerful as plutonium. Look it up sometime on google. Search for "Two weeks to Mars".

[Frank_Discussion]

True enough. Why point is that VASIMR relies on power input to create thrust, and that's pretty much it. The more power you have, the more stuff you can move faster.

I'll search your suggestion.

[Springman]

When the "Babes" stole Spock's brain, they use an Ion powered space ship. Good for them, go for us!!

[techcor]

The VASIMR variable speed is really a selling point. I think they discontinued research on it though. Nuclear isomer energy storage will be one of the biggest breakthroughs of the early 21st century. Outside of anti-matter and fusion it is the most powerful energy source. Reactors could be built in which the "waste" is half americium 242m and the other half regular americium. There might be a way to use laser light to trigger the release of the energy even faster.

[Frank_Discussion]

VASIMR is still a going concern at JSC, I know a couple of people on the team. If you are reading Marshall Spaceflight Center's press releases, you'd think the VASIMR folks were a bunch of hillbillies.

[UCANSEE2]

There might be a way to use laser light to trigger the release of the energy even faster.

Hence, the term, PHOTON ACCELERATOR, came into being.

[UCANSEE2]

Wanna see it?

ION ENGINE

[Squawk 8888]

If you go to any online bookstore and search Douglas Adams you'll find some of the most off-the-wall literature in existence. The two technologies I referred to were from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Infinite improbability technology works by calculating the odds against being at a particular location, then generating an improbability field to match those odds. The result is the instantaneous tranfer to said location. Bistromathics is a relatively new field of scientific research that involves the study of the bizarre behaviour of numbers that occurs when a group of people attempt to split their tab.

[Squawk 8888]

Exactly. Usually implemented by building a café with robotic waiters and patrons.

[BlazingArizona]

FWIW, I agree with you, and that's why I like VASIMR better, since your speed is really only limited by your available electrical power. Get fusion power on-track, hook it up to a VASIMR drive, then I think you'll be happy.

Why wait for fusion? A VASIMR will run just as well off fission. And in space, there are no liberals to get in the way.

[Frank_Discussion]

Oh, certainly fission. That's the baseline source of power for running the VASIMR drive, so, yeah, I'm not suggesting that we wait. Three months to Mars for the crews, six to nine months for many metric tons of cargo. Plus, it allows you the ability to abort and return to Earth pretty much anytime you need to. VASIMR with fission power is nothing to sneeze at.

But fusion gives near-chemical-rocket-level thrust, and is a very sustainable source of power. The timescale for the manned mars transit drops to a month or less. Get to the Moon in a day or so, with a lot of cargo and living space to the lunar surface. It's a big advance that would change a lot about how we get around in space.