4 ms·

This reminded me of a graph I thought was really interesting from a thesis on a solar powered UAV that shows energy density and power per weight for different

This reminded me of a graph I thought was really interesting from a thesis on a solar powered UAV that shows energy density and power per weight for different sources of energy, I've highlighted the 500wh/kg line which is being claimed in the article: https://i.imgur.com/nZSWpW1.png https://i.imgur.com/nZSWpW1.png Should be very interesting if they can deliver that level of performance. The source document for that graph is here: https://ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/special-interest/mavt/robotics-n-intelligent-systems/asl-dam/documents/phd_thesis/Andre_Noth_Design_of_Solar_Powered_Airplanes_for_Continuous_Flight.pdf https://ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/special-interest/mavt/robot... And described here: https://spie.org/news/1649-designing-solar-airplanes-for-continuous-flight?SSO=1 https://spie.org/news/1649-designing-solar-airplanes-for-con...

m463 7y ago
24,965,421,631,578 wh/kg (antimatter) 23,222,915,000 wh/kg (plutonium 239) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density#Table_of_energy_content https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density#Table_of_energy...
- the8472 7y ago
  If your goal is to use exciting power sources then those two have a flaw, they can be scaled down to fit the power needs of the plane, which would limit the spectacle you could achieve. The penrose process may be a better choice since there's a miniaturization limit.
  - xyzzyz 7y ago
    You can, in fact, put a functional nuclear reactor on a plane: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95LAL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95LAL . Of course, it's a terrible idea, but it is feasible.
    - m463 7y ago
      The holy grail would be to put antimatter on a spaceship. Instead of the pyramid of fuel mass needed to escape a gravity well, the capsule would basically be constant mass. An antimatter-powered spaceship could conquer the solar system or even the universe.
    - agumonkey 7y ago
      Russia sure does like mobile nuclear reactors
      - m463 7y ago
        Reading one of the Feynman books, probably "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" I remember the section about nuclear-powered patent ideas, like nuclear-powered spaceship, plane, boat, ... and submarine. We only did the boat and submarine. I guess we did the spaceship too.
    - tim333 7y ago
      They are still working on it for cruise missiles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik

m463 7y ago

24,965,421,631,578 wh/kg (antimatter) 23,222,915,000 wh/kg (plutonium 239) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density#Table_of_energy_content https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density#Table_of_energy...

the8472 7y ago
If your goal is to use exciting power sources then those two have a flaw, they can be scaled down to fit the power needs of the plane, which would limit the spectacle you could achieve. The penrose process may be a better choice since there's a miniaturization limit.
- xyzzyz 7y ago
  You can, in fact, put a functional nuclear reactor on a plane: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95LAL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95LAL . Of course, it's a terrible idea, but it is feasible.
  - m463 7y ago
    The holy grail would be to put antimatter on a spaceship. Instead of the pyramid of fuel mass needed to escape a gravity well, the capsule would basically be constant mass. An antimatter-powered spaceship could conquer the solar system or even the universe.
  - agumonkey 7y ago
    Russia sure does like mobile nuclear reactors
    - m463 7y ago
      Reading one of the Feynman books, probably "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" I remember the section about nuclear-powered patent ideas, like nuclear-powered spaceship, plane, boat, ... and submarine. We only did the boat and submarine. I guess we did the spaceship too.
  - tim333 7y ago
    They are still working on it for cruise missiles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik