3 ms·
Wikipedia says Bismuth looks promising for Hall Effect-based thrusters, and VASIMR has been tested using both Xenon and Argon, the latter of which is in abundan
by curtis 12y ago
Wikipedia says Bismuth looks promising for Hall Effect-based thrusters, and VASIMR has been tested using both Xenon and Argon, the latter of which is in abundant supply, at least on Earth. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_thruster#Propellants http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_thruster#Propellants)
- dredmorbius 12y agoArgon does make sense -- it's higher up the table than xenon -- by two rows, which tends to mean higher abundance. It's also a Nobel gas (largely inert). But a lot lighter -- atomic weight ~40 vs. 131 -- only 30% the mass per atom. But found with natural gas as a result of nuclear decay within the Earth's crust / mantel.