Can We Build a Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine for Space Travel?

[randeezy]

Ok, so we know now not to delve into Sci-Fi (I learned my lesson) and Solar Sails are impractical at distances greater than 3.27 AU. But what about the VASIMIR Plasma Engine?

 

[JaredJames]

Sounds ok, but you would need a source of power to do the ionizing and also a source of propellant, bringing you back to the 'fuel into space' scenario where you aren't able to carry enough supplies due to the exponential increase in requirement.
The power source, what would it be? On Earth this isn't an issue but in space...

The propellant side of things could be dealt with initially by launching it seperately into orbit and going from there, but you still have to power it in deep space/on the journey to Mars etc. and particularly with deep space how would you source the propellant?

 

[randeezy]

The fuel source is Hydrogen and it uses cryomagnets (I think that's what they're called.) The are light weight, and they only work in the low temps in space. They're used to propel the plasma out the back. The mags will be in a ring to keep the plasma in the center so it doesn't touch the mags. It uses radio waves to ionize the gas. And in space, the fuel is endless...

And sorry, it's VASIMR

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VASIMR

 

[JaredJames]

Your article doesn't mention cryomagnets, I would be interested to see where you read about them in the design. CERN uses them, but they are superconductors which implies electric, which again requires a power source.

Fuel is endless? Ever read the official definition of a vacuum? If you are traveling between stars where would you get the hydrogen? And what would power the craft?

(I always thought a true vacuum was <1 hydrogen atom per metre cubed? So not exactly abundant. I wouldn't mind someone to confirm/disprove that for me.)

 

[EnumaElish]

How is leave the rest to solar sails practical? We can't use them to get to towards the sun where they are most efficient and they are not particularly good past the asteroid belt. So it would seem a pointless technology, especially given the size of them.

Loose every sail to the breeze and don't stop until you get there.

 

[chayced]

Since we are completely in the realm of science fiction, how about a ship which moves the universe around it. Or more precisely the space which the ship fills moves through the universe while the ship remains stationary in its own bubble of space. Perfect sci-fi solution. Vaguely possible with our current understanding of the universe, and it has no inertial related problems or relativistic problems.

Wait, they did that on Futurama.

 

[turbo]

Since we are completely in the realm of science fiction, how about a ship which moves the universe around it. Or more precisely the space which the ship fills moves through the universe while the ship remains stationary in its own bubble of space. Perfect sci-fi solution. Vaguely possible with our current understanding of the universe, and it has no inertial related problems or relativistic problems.

Wait, they did that on Futurama.

And in Dune. Get the ship above the atmosphere and the Navigator "folds space".