4 ms·
New rocket engine could reach 99% the speed of light
- tuatoru 5y agoLet's see. According to the article, 1 N force requires 165 MW electrical. That means about 500 MW thermal, which optimistically requires only 1e4 tonnes or 1e7 kg mass in the reactor, motor, and ancillary equipment. So acceleration would be about 1e-7 m/s*2. Using basic Newtonian kinematics, to get to a third of the speed of light (1e8 m/s) would take 1e15 seconds, about 31.7 million years.
- gregjor 5y agoBut the artist's rendering looks cool! And it's helical, that sounds cool. And it uses ions, very cool. I can see a box with a weight jiggling inside moving itself along. How big a box and weight do I need to push my car?