Ion-propelled planes are here!
Ion-propelled planes are here!
12-30-2018, 08:46 AM
#2
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Plasma thrust is great for (unmanned) spacecraft which are in no hurry to get there...
Typically very, very low thrust but extremely high specific impulse so over days, weeks, months, years, you can get a very, very large velocity change out out of a very, very minuscule amount of fuel.
I'm frankly very surprised that they've built a thruster which has both enough thrust to move an aircraft against drag and is still light enough to be carried by said aircraft. If you asked me yesterday I would have said it was technically impossible. Impressive.
Typically very, very low thrust but extremely high specific impulse so over days, weeks, months, years, you can get a very, very large velocity change out out of a very, very minuscule amount of fuel.
I'm frankly very surprised that they've built a thruster which has both enough thrust to move an aircraft against drag and is still light enough to be carried by said aircraft. If you asked me yesterday I would have said it was technically impossible. Impressive.
12-30-2018, 12:21 PM
#4
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Originally Posted by rickair7777
If you asked me yesterday I would have said it was technically impossible. Impressive.
12-30-2018, 01:27 PM
#5
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Joined APC: Jan 2006
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Originally Posted by SonicFlyer
Yep... now that the concept is proven it's simply a matter of increasing efficiency and scaleability.
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