Re: Metastable metallic hydrogen propulsion

: Hans Moravec <hans.p.mora...@gmail.com> To: 'Chris de Morsella' via Everything List <everything-list@googlegroups.com> Sent: Thu, Jan 26, 2017 7:23 pm Subject: Metastable metallic hydrogen propulsion Something like antimatter propulsion, but much easier? Metallic hydrogen: The most pow

Re: Metastable metallic hydrogen propulsion

That's pretty consistent with the first paper, which only claimed a rocket chamber temperature of ~6,000K for pure metallic hydrogen. Diluting it with LH2 or water was just an idea to reduce the temperature to something more manageable, at the cost of specific impulse. Can't do the calculations

Re: Metastable metallic hydrogen propulsion

First, the H atoms in metallic hydrogen are already bound to other H atoms, so you don't get that H+H=H2+436kJ/mol. Second, H2+O=H2O+517kJ/mol. Since a mol of water is 9 times as heavy as a mol of H2 it's sonic velocity is 3 times lower. So even if you could take advantage of the H+H

Re: Metastable metallic hydrogen propulsion

I think the intent is that metallic hydrogen alone is the fuel, as a metastable way of storing some fraction of atomic hydrogen recombination energy. H + H -> H2 at 52,000K > On Jan 26, 2017, at 20:51 , Brent Meeker wrote: > > Makes no sense. Isp it just exhaust velocity

Re: Metastable metallic hydrogen propulsion

Makes no sense. Isp it just exhaust velocity which depends on the energy release per molecule of the combustion products. The energy per H2O molecule isn't going to be any different when the H came from metallic instead of liquid hydrogen. Having metallic hydrogen might make the rocket

Metastable metallic hydrogen propulsion

Something like antimatter propulsion, but much easier? Metallic hydrogen: The most powerful rocket fuel http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/215/1/012194/meta Hydrogen Squeezed Into a Metal, Possibly Solid, Harvard Physicists Say