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The problem with ion engines is that they need quite a lot of power, which becomes problematic in deep space. Solar panels aren't really viable outside the orbi
by Denvercoder9 6y ago
The problem with ion engines is that they need quite a lot of power, which becomes problematic in deep space. Solar panels aren't really viable outside the orbit of Mars.
Anyway, yes, of course there are countless variations that can be done to make it work. Sticking a Centaur or two in a Starship also seems to be viable. But the parent comment specifically asked about Super Heavy/Starship here.
- addaon 6y agoIon engines need a lot of power, but scale down quite well to lower powers and lower thrust. And even with an ion engine, you'd only be running it for a few years at the beginning of a mission. Meanwhile, one of your major power draws is a radio, which needs higher power as distance to Earth increases, later in the mission. Finally, nuclear thermal power supplies have decreasing power budgets over time. It seems reasonable to me that there's a combined power budget with focuses on ion propulsion for the first several years of a probe's lifetime, disabling the ion drive and shifting the (reducing) power budget to comms once target velocity is achieved.
- HeadsUpHigh 6y agoGiven that the rate of decay of the radioactive material in the RTG is constant the maximum mission time is set in stone from the beginning and can't be extended( i.e. it's a property of the material).