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Originally posted by Smart Guy
you could tie a magnet to the trailer hitch.
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The problem is that the tension in the trailer cable will pull back any magnetic repulsion you get.
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First off Fossil fuels are like fossils they are history. We cant even get into orbit with out tons of the stuff.
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A fossil fuel propulsion system may be 'heavy' in terms of the fuel, but the engine itself is relatively straightforward and light. Compare that with a magnetic/ion/nuclear propulsion system where the reactor, shielding, coils, magnets, etc. will weigh a lot.
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O2 as a fuel Is just a band-aid on a larger problem. Sure it is lightweight such as hydrogen but since space is a void any depleatable resource would be inefficient and therefore useless.
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Oxygen is an
oxidiser. Not a fuel.
Space may be a near vacuum but who said you can't mine stuff along the way? [;)]
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Nuclear Propulsion as we know it may be perfect for an underwater stay in a military submarine but that technology is to crude and still in it raw form. Maybe in the future larger spaceships or commercial space programs my investigate Nuclear Propulsion but a reactor in a spacecraft is just not a bright idea.
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Commerce (and maybe a good marketing team) can turn 'not bright ideas' into good ones. Hey, a good insurance salesman can con you bankrupt and keep you smiling along the way [s(]
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My favorite theory would be magnetic repulsion. You see examples of that in levitation experments and high speed trains. See
my theory is based on the same principle we use today in space travel.
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The levitation so far accomplished has only been miniscule. Don't forget magnets are big, heavy blocks of ferritic material. If you're talking about ceramic-based superconductors, then you will still need a power plant and a cryogenic cooling system (at least until room temp. superconductors are developed).