anything better than good old chemical rockets??, page 1
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reply posted on 8-12-2008 @ 03:01 PM by ngchunter
reply to post by sovietman


en.wikipedia.org...
VASIMR - Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket. Aside from having a way-cool techno name, it bridges the gap between low-thrust, high specific impulse ion engines which are unsuitable for manned missions, and high thrust, low specific impulse chemical engines. It can operate variably in either mode, hence the name variable specific impulse. That's exactly what's needed for the next generation of interplanetary propulsion suitable for manned flight. Ion engines take far too long to build up speed for a manned flight. Chemical engine burns only last on the order of minutes, and while that's nice, it'd be ok to extend that out to hours instead of minutes if you could trade off thrust for impulse. VASIMR should allow us to do just that. The catch is that the power needed to operate such an engine is far more than a typical spacecraft's solar panels could provide, it'll need a nuclear reactor.

For the first manned test we'll probably attach one to ISS to tap into the solar array's power just as a proof of concept, though ISS itself is far too massive and generally too fragile for an interplanetary mission (small reboosts are done over several minutes to avoid stressing the joints - imagine trying to do an earth orbit ejection, not going to happen). Naturally, we've never launched a full-blown nuclear reactor before, let alone for a manned mission. It'll be extremely heavy and require quite a booster to get the engine into orbit by itself, the manned section(s) will probably be attached on a later launch.

[edit on 8-12-2008 by ngchunter]
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