power sources...

Space/Science » in reply to Color me skeptical

power sources...

Adam — 6/1/2004 11:19:27 PM (archived)

Hi All

Larry J you missed the bit about the Orbital Ascender using solar-power - it's big enough to present enough area to the Sun to generate a few megawatts. In which case an ion-drive wouldn't be good since they are only 60-70% efficient and that would be a lot of heat to dump.

As for day/night cycles - if they launch from the poles they can stay in the sunshine indefinitely given the right orbit. Put up a few power-beaming satellites or solettas in high orbits then they can launch from anywhere with power beamed from space.

Re-entry will be a slow braking spiral - essentially the orbital ascent in reverse. With enough skill they should be able to keep it cool enough.

Will be interesting to see what other electric propulsion they have planned.

Adam

The whole thread (31 posts)

Airships to orbit - Tom Brosz - 5/27/2004 3:07:34 AM
- re: I don't understand why anyone would build all that hardware if they didn't do the numbers - Success_Machine - 5/31/2004 4:10:21 PM
  - There's no way you'll get an L/D of 50 - Gary - 5/31/2004 8:27:13 PM
    - re: I believe it does get an L/D of 50, when forced to go hypersonic speed - Success_Machine - 6/1/2004 11:06:48 AM
- There are exactly TWO practical ways of launching a payload into orbit. - David F Mayer - 5/30/2004 5:22:24 AM
  - Actually...... - Gary - 5/31/2004 8:31:49 PM
    - A scramjet won't get you into orbit (they flame out at Mach 10). - David F Mayer - 6/1/2004 1:03:18 AM
      - Scramjet 101 - Gary - 6/1/2004 4:35:26 AM
        
        re: Scramjet 101 - David F Mayer - 6/2/2004 12:32:24 AM
        
        Use a detonation wave analogy to understand this - Gary - 6/2/2004 3:27:55 AM
        
        You wrote: "You'll find that the detonation velocity for hydrogen-air at STP is 1968 m/sec" - David F Mayer - 6/2/2004 7:06:04 AM
        
        Yes, air for combustion is pre-heated by the bow shock - Gary - 6/2/2004 4:25:13 PM
        
        re: The only design for a scramjet that works in theory - Success_Machine - 6/2/2004 1:09:56 PM
        
        re: Controlled Flame Speed Limited to Mach 5 - Success_Machine - 6/2/2004 2:34:40 AM
- Do the numbers, Tom. Then forget it. - David F Mayer - 5/30/2004 5:09:45 AM
  - re: Do the numbers - Tom Brosz - 5/30/2004 6:22:58 AM
    - Look at the VOLUME of a balloon of ANY type required to lift a reasonable spacecraft to 30,000 meters. - David F Mayer - 5/30/2004 1:35:00 PM
  - I was only referring to using a balloon to lift a rocket here. (n/t) - DFM - 5/30/2004 5:19:50 AM
- re: Airships to orbit - Nathan Koren - 5/28/2004 3:12:12 AM
- It was me... - Adam - 5/27/2004 11:33:12 AM
- Low thrust to orbit for an airship has got to be bogus - Gary - 5/27/2004 5:52:06 AM
  - "Something is not right here." You are correct. The concept is bullshit! (n/t) - David F Mayer - 5/30/2004 5:17:07 AM
  - Color me skeptical - Larry J - 5/27/2004 6:12:43 PM
    - power sources... - Adam - 6/1/2004 11:19:27 PM
      - Still very skeptical - Larry J - 6/2/2004 2:33:32 PM
    - re: Skipping Over the Atmosphere on a Surfboard - Success_Machine - 5/27/2004 9:04:04 PM
  - re: Low thrust to orbit for an airship has got to be bogus - Adam - 5/27/2004 11:31:06 AM
    - Use VASIMR - phil - 5/27/2004 12:42:19 PM
      - For a large balloon, at any altitude, the air resistance even at low speed is comparable to its weight. I STILL say the idea is bullshit. (n/t) - David F Mayer - 5/30/2004 1:37:21 PM
- re: Airships to orbit - Raoul - 5/27/2004 5:35:39 AM
  - Visible Horizon... - Adam - 5/27/2004 11:30:18 AM

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