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Warp Speed, Mr. Sulu

If it can push a spacecraft, engineers are trying to harness it to fly through space

01 Jun 2009

CHEMICAL ROCKET Fuel and oxidizer ignite in a contained explosion + Proven technology, ample performance data. – Inefficient; spacecraft must carry lots of propellant.
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NUCLEAR THERMAL ROCKET Heat from a nuclear reactor accelerates a propellant + More efficient than chemical rockets; reactor design is familiar. – Exhaust radioactive,making it hard to test on Earth.
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ION THRUSTER Electric fields ionize and accelerate xenon gas + Commercially available; satellites and space probes use them. – Too small, and might be too heavy and less effiecient than a plasma thruster.
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PLASMA THRUSTER Electromagnetic waves convert a gas propellant into plasma + Speeds can be finely tuned; very efficient. – Need a nuclear reactor to travel interplanetary distances.
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SPACE ELEVATOR Lasers beam payloads along a carbon-nanotube ribbon + A track from Earth’s surface into orbit promises cheap and easy launches. – Could be damaged by space debris.
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BEAM PROPULSION Space stations generate plasma beams to propel spacecraft + The rocket’s onboard propulsion system is small. – Must position the nuclear-powered stations beforehand.
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TETHER PROPULSION Slingshots in Earth and Mars orbit fling spacecraft back and forth + Thrust comes from a planet’s magnetic field, not a propellant. – Impossible to test on the ground.
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MAGNETIC SAIL A magnetic field interacts with plasma particles in the solar wind + Can travel through the solar system without much propellant or power. – Probably too slow for human transport; hard to test on Earth.
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FUSION ROCKET A fusion reactor heats and ejects fuel + Extremely efficient. – The reactors are heavy, so the thrust-to-weight ratio is currently unworkable.
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ANTIMATTER ROCKET Positrons annihilate electrons to produce energy + Ten milligrams of positrons might be enough to take a crew to Mars. – Antimatter is very hard to produce.
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ALCUBIERRE (WARP) DRIVE Fabric of space bends into a warp bubble + Space contracts in front of the rocket to bring the target closer and expands behind the ship to push it forward. – No one knows how to create a warp bubble.
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WORMHOLE Fabric of space folds to form a shortcut + Might enable time travel, too. – May not exist.
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type:slideshow space elevator rocket nuclear fusion ion propulsion antimatter warp space flight

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