4 ms·
What about a fission reactor?
by no_wizard 1y ago
What about a fission reactor?
- ekianjo 1y agoThat runs for dozens of years without maintenance? And how do you dissipate the heat?
- yread 1y agoOpen the rear end and you get propulsion as well. Just don't start close to earth
- sfink 1y agoYou still need matter to carry the heat, and matter is heavy (by definition!) Radiating the heat isn't going to be enough if you want to send anything other than a blob of plasma. Which is an interesting thought when considered as a weapon. Fire a self-immolating fission reactor at your target...
- lazide 1y agoI miss the days when a Bussard Ramjet was a viable dream. Also, if there are aliens there, sending a highly radioactive blob of plasma at them at interstellar speeds might cause a little trouble.
- lazide 1y agoIt would likely need a standalone fission reactor that only ‘goes hot’ when it arrives. I’m not sure that we have the engineering ability to actually do that with any real chance of success after a 100 year deep space flight, or the willingness to wait that long to find out.