On Sat, Feb 15, 2003 at 08:28:15AM -0800, Randall Clague wrote: > On Sat, 15 Feb 2003 10:18:32 EST, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > >6) save enough fuel to fire the engines at low thrust during reentry > >(Problems: mass) > > Michael has long promoted this idea, but I'm dubious. I might be less > dubious if I understood the mechanism better. Is this anything more > than a mechanical means of standing off the shock wave and air plasma? >
On that note. Anyone remember the article a while back on using high power microwaves to generate plasma in front of a non-streamlined object, to reduce it's drag? The downside, was the weight and power requirements, (actually, not too bad) and the fact that you got the most benefit from a shape like a sphere, the more streamlined the shape was allready, the less benefit. However, that becomes an advantage here... <http://www.arc.umn.edu/publications/archives/v11n1/dragplasma.html> <http://www.princeton.edu/~milesgrp/girgis_aiaa_2002-0129.pdf> Something to consider anyway. -- Jim Richardson http://www.eskimo.com/~warlock A bad day, is when aliens attack, the dog bites you, and your boss tells you that the new client wants to make a few changes before delivery. Linux, super computers, office computers, or home computers, it works. _______________________________________________ ERPS-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list
