VASIMR

[Marcel]

I found an article about it that I thought I'd share. This drive seems really promising. If it works as advertised, the solar system is ours!

http://www.newscientist.com/article...s-to-mars.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

edit: As Agentgonzo pointed out below, it's spelled VASIMR. Don't know how to edit the title of a post. :embarrassed:

 

[Kaito]

Promising, yes. But like they said, they need a small nuclear reactor on the ship, and to get it up there, you'll need rockets, which means theres a possibility of exploding, which if that does happen, will spread nuclear material over a HUGE range

 

[Marcel]

Yeah, I can see the protesters now. How about the solar powered version? I really like the idea of a space tug. Something that can give us the ability to perform a mission like the Hubble repair. It could service satellites robotically or dock with Orion for complex stuff. I've been thinking about it as an add-on.

 

[cinder1992]

*facepalm*

If they are going to give it a nuke-reactor, they'll build it in SPACE!

solar power doesn't give enough heat to create plasma as well.

 

[agentgonzo]

VASIMR.

 

[tblaxland]

solar power doesn't give enough heat to create plasma as well.

You have clearly not understood the operating principles of the VASIMR. Its operation (in principle) has been largely proven on the ground at power levels of around 25 kW (IIRC) of electrical power. The demo version being talked about for the ISS is around 200 kW (IIRC the solar panels can supply around 100 kW, I guess the rest is to be made up from the batteries or the engine is throttled back). Anyway, solar power is more than sufficient.

 

[RisingFury]

Anyway, solar power is more than sufficient.

For very low thrust levels, within the orbit of Mars, yes.

 

[Max Pain]

Just a question:

Why is a nuclear reactor more dangerous to shoot into orbit than a thermonuclear battery like on the voyager probes?

 

[RisingFury]

Just a question:

Why is a nuclear reactor more dangerous to shoot into orbit than a thermonuclear battery like on the voyager probes?

It's not... a RTG still has considerable amount of radioactive stuff in it and is equally as dangerous if something went wrong.

 

[Kaito]

*facepalm*
If they are going to give it a nuke-reactor, they'll build it in SPACE!

They still need to get the nuclear material up there.
I think we would need a combo of batteries, solar panels, and a SUPER small nuclear reactor

 

[Max Pain]

After some short research I have found out that Russia already had over 30 fission reactors in space, even America had one.

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf82.html

So there won't be any obstacles for this baby? Where can I book my flight to mars?:speakcool:

 

[cinder1992]

WHAT? this is NOT right... THIS IS*no sparta reference here*

but seriously, nukes in space freak me out.

 

[Kaito]

So there won't be any obstacles for this baby? Where can I book my flight to mars?:speakcool:

You can use paypal and send me 10,000,000 USD, or 15,000,000 for the maiden flight. I will then send you your ticket via air mail, and just present the ticket to NASA on July 16th, 2019 (50th anniversary of Apollo 11), board the ship, and be on your way to a 2 year stay at the new Mars Luxury resort!:rofl:

 

[Star Voyager]

but seriously, nukes in space freak me out.

Try watching 2001: A Space Odyssey some time !

 

[cinder1992]

what the hell is 2001: A Space Odyssey?

 

[Hielor]

what the hell is 2001: A Space Odyssey?

www.lmgtfy.com/?q=2001+A+Space+Odyssey

 

[ar81]

The advantage of VASIMR is that it requires less fuel to produce more impulse, since exhaust gas velocity can be changed.

 

[RisingFury]

Specific impulse rises with with exhaust velocity. What makes VASIMR special is that you can increase thrust at the expense of specific impulse, which bridges the gap between low thrust - high Isp and high thrust - low Isp and gives hope that a similar system will one day be powerful enough to launch off a planet and then switch to efficient enough for fast interplanetary travel.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

VASIMR Full-Power, Full-Field Firing:

Ad Astra: "This image shows our achievement of full-power full-field for the 1st stage of VASIMR. In addition, here are some recent video posts documenting this achievement with our new superconducting magnet. The maximum magnetic field within the core of VASIMR is around 2 Tesla, about the same as most MRI machines."

---------- Post added at 16:08 ---------- Previous post was at 16:02 ----------

Official Ad Astra website:

www.adastrarocket.com/home1.html

 

[Artlav]

VASIMR Full-Power, Full-Field Firing:

So, it's real?!
I always thought it was some academic research on something remotely possible, without anyone wanting to "waste money" on.