3 ms·
Wouldn't you just size the engines small enough that they instantly burn off the H2 as you crack it? The solar power should be even and constant so you can siz
by jandrese 4y ago
Wouldn't you just size the engines small enough that they instantly burn off the H2 as you crack it? The solar power should be even and constant so you can size the system to match. It is going to require a very large solar array, especially since your spacecraft is going to be really heavy with all of that water.
- jhgb 4y agoYou could design a pulse detonation engine for this. Electrolyze water continuously; detonate it in a pipe every now and then. It's a very simple design that gives you quite a bit of performance for hopping in the asteroid belt. Specific impulse similar to a hydrolox engine, or slightly worse than regular hydrolox engines if operating stoichiometrically, although the detonation mode could compensate for that (detonation rocket engines can potentially get ~10% better Isp performance than "classical" rocket engines). However, you get triple the propellant density (water has ~1000 kg/m³; hydrolox is at around 340 kg/m³). This makes it much better compared to a classical hydrolox vehicle wherever gravity is near zero so that you don't need lift-off thrust.