Ragdoll Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Is this cause for hurray? =? I would really hope so? =) http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/01/07/tech-space-plasma-rocket-nautel.html?ref=rss How would one stat that out in Star Hero? =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! I'll have to keep an eye on new developments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! Is this cause for hurray? =? I would really hope so? =) Yes. We have the technology that we could launch a crewed Mars expedition in a few years if we needed/wanted to. The hard part at this point in time is protecting the crew from each other. A Mars Direct or Mars Semi-Direct type mission would involve in effect taking six people and locking them in an efficiency apartment they can't leave for three years. Any sort of constant acceleration engine will cut down on the transit time, which reduces not only the time spent in micro gravity but the probability of homicide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! Sounds like the plasma rocket in the article is a VASIMR engine. Nice to hear it's actually being done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! Yes, this report is about the good old VASIMR engine, which has been in the news for a few years now http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_Specific_Impulse_Magnetoplasma_Rocket http://www.google.com/search?q=vasimr Like most engines of its type, the thrust is low, but the "gas mileage" (specific impulse) is fantastic. It is no good for take off or landing, but it is great for traveling between planets. Also, unlike almost all other engines, it can "shift gears." That is, it can increase the thrust at the expense of gas mileage, and vice versa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! I <3 VASIMR ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexMundi Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! Heh, just gimme my Torch Ship and point the way to the nearest Vanadium laced asteroid. ~Rex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beast Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! no non-combat accel 1 or 2" of flight that stacks the delta v newtonian physics price wise it will be real cheap but it will be driving a railroad train not a fighter aircraft long range Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! ... Wasn't there a write-up in Star Hero ... ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! We have the technology that we could launch a crewed Mars expedition in a few years if we needed/wanted to. The hard part at this point in time is protecting the crew from each other. A Mars Direct or Mars Semi-Direct type mission would involve in effect taking six people and locking them in an efficiency apartment they can't leave... In other words, it's the perfect reality TV show! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexMundi Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! Instead of getting voted off the Island they get booted out the Airlock? Sounds good sign me up. We can do it as a Celebrity Special and kill two birds with one stone. ~Rex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! The great thing about this new technology is the vast reduction in size. Not only does it improve the prospects for manned space flight, but it's small enough to be put onto unmanned probes, greatly facilitating scouting of the outer planets in our solar system. With the right balance of fuel to hardware, this could even mean unmanned probes to the nearest stars taking decades rather than centuries to get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweeper Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! Trips to moon in a matter of hours instead of days... MmmmmHmmmm! It's a step in the right direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! ... Wasn't there a write-up in Star Hero ... ? Yes, it's on page 189. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragdoll Posted January 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! Trips to moon in a matter of hours instead of days... MmmmmHmmmm! It's a step in the right direction. That was my first thought. Even if it's not used to go to Mars, it would make the exploration, colonization and exploitation of the Moon much easier. =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! The great thing about this new technology is the vast reduction in size. Well, technically the great thing about the VASIMR is that it has a far superior "specific impulse" compared to the best possible chemical rocket. The practical upshot is that more of the rocket is payload and less of the rocket is fuel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! I think there should (in Star Hero) be a limitation to flight - 'Non-Lifting' which means you actually have to divert m/seg's from your forward thrust to stay up in the air in a gravity field Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beast Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! not in an atmosphere(need another type of engine or a shuttle with a transional endine) I think there should (in Star Hero) be a limitation to flight - 'Non-Lifting' which means you actually have to divert m/seg's from your forward thrust to stay up in the air in a gravity field Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! not in an atmosphere(need another type of engine or a shuttle with a transitional engine) that too - but that would be different - more limiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! I think there should (in Star Hero) be a limitation to flight - 'Non-Lifting' which means you actually have to divert m/seg's from your forward thrust to stay up in the air in a gravity field This could be built as a partially-limited power, with a few meters of flight (say 10m/segment in a 1g field) purchased with the 'only for levitation' or 'vertical movement only' limitation. Don't look at me, Xavier Onassiss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! Well, technically the great thing about the VASIMR is that it has a far superior "specific impulse" compared to the best possible chemical rocket. The practical upshot is that more of the rocket is payload and less of the rocket is fuel. Of course, as a general design concept. But I was referring specifically to this: Other companies have built plasma rockets — the Soviets even experimented with the technology in the 1960s — but Nautel has built a powerful radio-frequency generator the size of a golf bag. Other such devices are typically the size of a truck. "What [Ad Astra was] looking for was technology which would be practical to be put into space, so something much smaller and much more efficient. For a 50-kilowatt generator, this is certainly the smallest in the world that we know of," said Neutel's head engineer on the project, Tim Hardy. It's not quite Tony Stark's mini arc reactor , but this new generator takes that "less fuel/more payload" paradigm considerably farther. Its reduced size and greater efficiency will make plasma rockets a lot easier to carry into and assemble in space, and allow them to propel much smaller vehicles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! I just blundered across this page on the ion rocket engines in operation for the DAWN mission to Vesta. The engines' 90 milliNewtons of thrust is about 1/50 of a pound, but one does fire more or less continuously along the trajectory. They have three onboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DusterBoy Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! This is great news. Good to know that this is finally being developed. BTW: why do we need to go to Mars? BECAUSE IT'S THERE AND IT'S A MYSTERY! Seriously do we need a better reason than that? Except for the fact the humans will always be able to do things robots can't. Like say "H'mmm, I wonder what's behind that hill? I know, I'll go and look." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSword Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! This is great news. Good to know that this is finally being developed. BTW: why do we need to go to Mars? BECAUSE IT'S THERE AND IT'S A MYSTERY! Seriously do we need a better reason than that? Except for the fact the humans will always be able to do things robots can't. Like say "H'mmm' date=' I wonder what's behind [i']that[/i] hill? I know, I'll go and look." Using Spirit as example, it was able to operate 21 times the length of its planned mission. A human could go beyond that hill, if he had the food, water and oxygen to get him there. Spirit getting stuck shows one limitation of a robotic rover, but the longevity of the mission in a harsh environment shows the definite advantages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted February 19, 2010 Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 Re: Plasma Rocket! Agreed; OTOH I remember one of the past remote-controlled Mars Explorers searching for chemical signs of organic compounds in the Martian soil. All tests came back negative, except for one which gave a result so much more intense than what scientists ever expected, they couldn't be sure if the result was due to some weird soil chemistry. One trained human on site would have settled the issue. Spirit was a spectacular success, and if those little robots aren't brought back to Earth one day and displayed in a place of honor there's no justice. Yet how many probes have we lost in space over the years due to shorted circuits, programming errors in computers, or other mechanical failures that we'll never know the explanation to because the probe crashed or disappeared in the void? We're a very long way from creating machines with the versatility and adaptability of human beings to respond to unexpected circumstances, and if we keep humans out of space we cripple our ability to explore. There's very much a place for robotic probes in space exploration, but it's not the same place as ours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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