From: Adrian Tymes (wingcat@pacbell.net)
Date: Thu Mar 22 2001 - 10:00:33 MST
Damien Broderick wrote:
> At 10:16 PM 3/21/01 -0800, Adrian Tymes <wingcat@pacbell.net> wrote [with
> tongue in cheek?]:
>
> >* Power storage density - Black Light Power, Inc., at
> http://www.blacklightpower.com/
>
> The `hydrino' cold fusion guys, eh?
I'll admit that's one of the more worrying prospects of the default
values, but there are other high-density power storage prospects if
these guys are indeed unable to deliver. (Flywheels, for one.)
> This is even funnier than the ion engine to orbit from ground.
I'm hoping to write a business plan on it. I'm not laughing - though
you may have a misconception of exactly what the engine is. Reread the
calculator's description: it's just relying on thermal pressure to
exhaust. Part of the reason this seems to work, while existing
versions produce << 1G, is that I'm using a lot more power and mass
flow in order to get the higher thrust. Milligram-per-second mass
flows would have to have a lot of energy to move thousand-kilogram
rockets; kilogram-per-second mass flows still need significant amounts,
but not unobtainably high.
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