4 ms·
The electric will finally reach much higher velocity, yes. The thermal one will reach usable velocity within your lifespan.
by p_l 6y ago
The electric will finally reach much higher velocity, yes.
The thermal one will reach usable velocity within your lifespan.
- bryanlarsen 6y agoJust run a lot of ion thrusters in parallel to get your thrust. They're tiny, that's feasible for any ship trying to go further than Mars/Venus.
- m4rtink 6y agoThis works to a degree - each thruster weights something and has cooling requirement. Also wear and tear if you run them preatty much continuously.
- bryanlarsen 6y ago> This works to a degree - each thruster weights something A lot less than the fuel for chemical or propellant for nuclear thermal, though > and has cooling requirement. That's for the electricity generation, not the thrusters > Also wear and tear if you run them preatty much continuously. The whole point of using thrusters is to run them continuously. No moving parts.
- m4rtink 6y agoIIRC some ion thrusters experience grid erosion over very long runs - stuff can wear out even without moving parts.
- dwaltrip 6y agoAdding more of them doesn’t meaningfully change the very low thrust to weight ratio, which is what makes it hard to get to closer places quickly.
- rbanffy 6y agoYou still need to get rid of excess heat, which scales linearly with power. The more engines, the bigger the radiators you need to carry, which will increase your total mass.