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That's the irony of it all. Power plants capable of powering an EmDrive that's practically useful for manned flight can be summed up with one word: nuclear. Wit
by akiselev 6y ago
That's the irony of it all. Power plants capable of powering an EmDrive that's practically useful for manned flight can be summed up with one word: nuclear. With the exception of the (lovely but insane) Project Orion, all of the nuclear propulsion designs like NERVA and the nuclear lightbulb generate a ridiculous amount of heat that we have trouble handling here on Earth, let alone in vacuum without convection - most nuclear plants are built with access to large natural or artificial bodies of water as a heat sink.
The future of manned space flight is almost certainly nuclear and it looks like tiny cabins attached to giant passive heatsinks or spacecraft that constantly have to accelerate just to dump all the waste heat and avoid cooking its inhabitants.
- bjo590 6y ago> Project Orion Here is some declassified test footage of Project Orion. I don't believe any of the test crafts used nuclear explosions, but you'll get the idea from this footage (on why it's a terrible idea that could only exist in the 40s or 50s) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Sv5y6iHUM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Sv5y6iHUM
- mhh__ 6y agoOrion is an impractical idea but the risks do seem manageable. In "peacetime" it could never launch from the ground, but assembled in space it could be fruitful. It's probably the only possible way to get a city of people off the planet.
- damoe 6y agoI love the top comment on the video, "External combustion engine."