3 ms·
My guess is that the energy required to dissociate H2O into 2H and O is less than to change the state of H2O from liquid to gas. [edit] Quick research shows th
by HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
My guess is that the energy required to dissociate H2O into 2H and O is less than to change the state of H2O from liquid to gas.
[edit]
Quick research shows that no, that's not right! But the article says "feed the gases into a thruster." Are they burning them at that point?
- NortySpock 3y agoYes, I think so. Water gets you dense, room-temperature propellent storage. Big solar panels give you lots of excess power. Converting small amounts of water into gas as it's needed and then burning it means you don't need to plan to store cryogenic liquid hydrogen.
- HeyLaughingBoy 3y agoSo basically a cool way to turn electricity into thrust!
- r2_pilot 3y agoI really hate being pedantic here, but it's ultimately using mass for thrust instead of being a pure photon rocket (which arguably is also expelling energy which has mass but in this particular case you're expelling momentum - and probably causing smarter people than me to groan in exasperation at my description).
- xeonmc 3y agoOr more like using water as a form of capacitor, since electrolysis only require voltage and can be run at any power, whereas thrust is something where you want immediate demand of power