- #1
FireStorm000
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For starters, watch this video to see what I'm talking about. It has been done, so I know it can work, but I want to assess viability for maneuvering while in the thermo-sphere (space shuttle/ISS orbit)
You can skip to 2:20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk2GGoMJ7NU
So based on that video, it's obvious that is you create a strong enough electric field, you will generate a force on the air, so my question is what range of altitudes, power, and orbiter mass would make this viable for maneuvering?
To avoid relating the discussion to specific spacecraft , we can discuss in terms of power density, where power density is a measure of the total generating capacity of the spacecraft divided by the total mass; W/kg; P/mT. For a flying nuclear fission reactor, expect at most something on the order of 1200W/kg, 100W/kg on an actual fission powered spacecraft . For a solar powered craft near Earth such as the ISS, expect about .07W/kg
So how would I go about figuring this one out?
You can skip to 2:20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk2GGoMJ7NU
So based on that video, it's obvious that is you create a strong enough electric field, you will generate a force on the air, so my question is what range of altitudes, power, and orbiter mass would make this viable for maneuvering?
To avoid relating the discussion to specific spacecraft , we can discuss in terms of power density, where power density is a measure of the total generating capacity of the spacecraft divided by the total mass; W/kg; P/mT. For a flying nuclear fission reactor, expect at most something on the order of 1200W/kg, 100W/kg on an actual fission powered spacecraft . For a solar powered craft near Earth such as the ISS, expect about .07W/kg
So how would I go about figuring this one out?
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