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Thruster May Shorten Mars Trip (from six months to a week!)
Photonics.com News ^
| 9/7/07
Posted on 09/10/2007 11:31:01 AM PDT by LibWhacker
click here to read article
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To: KevinDavis
2
posted on
09/10/2007 11:33:53 AM PDT
by
JamesP81
To: LibWhacker
Does this mean I can go home now?
*shifty eyes*
3
posted on
09/10/2007 11:34:02 AM PDT
by
wastedyears
(George Orwell was a clairvoyant.)
To: LibWhacker
An amplified photon thruster... I wonder if you could make a torpedo out of that thing?
Sorry, I had to say it.
To: LibWhacker
35 µN? That ain’t a lot of cookies....................
5
posted on
09/10/2007 11:35:31 AM PDT
by
Red Badger
(ALL that CARBON in ALL that oil & coal was once in the atmospere. We're just putting it back!)
To: LibWhacker
So, after testing and all, it may be ready for use in like the year 29,4701.
6
posted on
09/10/2007 11:36:23 AM PDT
by
BibChr
("...behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?" [Jer. 8:9])
To: LibWhacker
...For example, PLT-powered spacecraft could transit the 100 million km to Mars in less than a week. ...How many G's would you be pulling?
7
posted on
09/10/2007 11:36:36 AM PDT
by
FReepaholic
(Vini ,Vidi, VD: I Came, I Saw, I Cankered)
To: LibWhacker
A spacecraft travelling at those speeds will need:
1. A pebble deflector
2. A lot of braking power.
Launch 'em.
8
posted on
09/10/2007 11:36:50 AM PDT
by
SampleMan
(Islamic tolerance is practiced by killing you last.)
To: LibWhacker
photonic laser thruster (PLT) Sort of like an oscillation overthruster? YoYoDyne Propulsion Labs, standing by.
9
posted on
09/10/2007 11:37:31 AM PDT
by
SJSAMPLE
To: Ancesthntr
Amplified photon thruster ...
Uh-heh-heh-heh. Heh-heh-heh.
10
posted on
09/10/2007 11:38:22 AM PDT
by
stinkerpot65
(Global warming is a Marxist lie.)
To: LibWhacker
The micromotor could get a micropayload to Mars in a week. If they bolt a hundred million together they could get a one pound payload to Mars in a week.
11
posted on
09/10/2007 11:39:28 AM PDT
by
RightWhale
(It's Brecht's donkey, not mine)
To: Red Badger
That was just his desktop prototype. He says it's scalable.
But I have a lot of doubts about it myself. We see too many of these too-good-to-be-true scams.
But... IF it's real... OH, BOY!
To: JamesP81
I googled a few articles about this, and I still don’t get it - if photons have no mass, how can they provide acceleration in a vacuum?
13
posted on
09/10/2007 11:42:08 AM PDT
by
chrisser
To: chrisser
14
posted on
09/10/2007 11:43:26 AM PDT
by
RightWhale
(It's Brecht's donkey, not mine)
To: FReepaholic
And, is that a ‘transit’ using steady acceleration for 7 days — in which case you blast by Mars doing a gazillion mph — or is it 3.5 days to mid-point, at which time you do a 180 and start decelerating (presumably maintaining a constant G load throughout?)
Anybody know how long a human can function under sustained multiple g-loads?
15
posted on
09/10/2007 11:44:18 AM PDT
by
Clioman
To: stinkerpot65
16
posted on
09/10/2007 11:44:41 AM PDT
by
Pyro7480
("Jesu, Jesu, Jesu, esto mihi Jesus" -St. Ralph Sherwin's last words at Tyburn)
To: wastedyears
Better phone home first...
17
posted on
09/10/2007 11:45:47 AM PDT
by
Clioman
To: LibWhacker
If it was built by using “off the shelf parts” then it’s not patentable, IIRC.......
18
posted on
09/10/2007 11:50:07 AM PDT
by
Red Badger
(ALL that CARBON in ALL that oil & coal was once in the atmospere. We're just putting it back!)
To: FReepaholic
They now need to invent photonic brakes..........
19
posted on
09/10/2007 11:51:51 AM PDT
by
Red Badger
(ALL that CARBON in ALL that oil & coal was once in the atmospere. We're just putting it back!)
To: FReepaholic; RightWhale
He’s going to have to scale up the power considerably. I think RightWhale has it right... If my back of the napkin calculations are right, and If he can scale it up by a billion-fold (i.e., to 35,000 Newtons), a million kilogram ship (i.e., one of respectable size), starting at an initial velocity of zero, would travel about one kilometer towards Mars in a week’s time. LOL, not too good. So he’s going to have to scale up by a factor on the order of quadrillions or so.
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