On Thu, 27 Feb 2003, Randall Clague wrote:
> >The attraction is an Isp of 3000-5000s with respectable thrust, enough
> >to accelerate a realistic vehicle at maybe 0.1G.
>
> Is that a typo? 3000 to 5000 seconds? That's 30,000 to 50,000 m/sec.
> That's enormous.
Quite so. It's not a typo. This is why, in Max Hunter's "Thrust Into
Space", gas-core nuclear is the centerpiece of the chapter titled "Solar
System Spaceships". (Mind you, he was a bit more ambitious -- he wanted
1G of thrust, to operate from the ground...!) 100 tons of cargo, Earth to
Titan, transit time about a year, $4/lb of payload; if you want to cut the
travel time to six months, the cost skyrockets to $12/lb. Propellant is
water. 73GW reactor, waste-heat radiators running at 4000degF.
"If the problems of such engines are impressive, it is because we are
finally discussing the class of energy control which could make true
spaceships possible."
Henry Spencer
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