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Aerospace Engineering
Can the thrust of Ion Thruster be increased at the cost of speed?
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[QUOTE="Drakkith, post: 6823967, member: 272035"] Yes, but now you've reduced the thrust by a factor of around 12 by switching to hydrogen, along with possibly increasing the size, mass, and complexity of the fuel system, as hydrogen has to remain cryogenic (and even then still leaks out over time). Note that despite what you may believe, thrust is still very important in ion engines. The Dawn spacecraft operated its ion engines for 5.9 [I]years[/I], 54% of its time spent in outer space, before running out of fuel. With required thrust times measured in months (it took 270 days for a 1.81 km/s delta V change), slashing the thrust by more than an order of magnitude simply won't do. You won't be able to change course in time to do anything. Also, you keep saying 'speed' when talking about these fuels. I assume you're referring to the exhaust velocity of the propellant? [/QUOTE]
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Can the thrust of Ion Thruster be increased at the cost of speed?
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