3 ms·
In nuclear engines the fuel and propellant is separate. I keep wondering how much gas a rocket needs to take with it in order to have something to push against.
by Jeff_Brown 7y ago
In nuclear engines the fuel and propellant is separate. I keep wondering how much gas a rocket needs to take with it in order to have something to push against. Nuclear fuel is incredibly energy-dense, but the density of the gas used for propulsion in a nuclear rocket can't be much different from what's used in conventional rockets.
- HarryHirsch 7y agoThe JIMO mission was supposed to have 12 tons of xenon on board, a substantial amount of the yearly production (~ 70 tons). You do wonder how Elon Musk's Starlink madness will affect the xenon price.
- tlb 7y agoThe StarLink satellites use krypton thrusters instead of xenon [0]. They need more electic power to run, but produce higher specific impulse [1]. And krypton is cheap. [0] https://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/starlink_press_kit.pdf https://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/starlink_press_kit... [1] http://ngpdlab.engin.umich.edu/electric-propulsion/krypton-HET http://ngpdlab.engin.umich.edu/electric-propulsion/krypton-H...