[ExI] rocke fuel was Re: SpaceX launch

[Eugen Leitl]

On Thu, Dec 09, 2010 at 08:44:51PM -0800, Adrian Tymes wrote:

> Could you use tungsten as a heat exchanger?
> 
> Have an onboard energy source, optimized for heat generation instead
> of thrust.  (Maybe even fission/radioactives, so long as they don't get

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

see "Risks".

They're not that good http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_impulse

> into the exhaust.)  Use tungsten to transfer the heat into hydrogen,
> which is gently forced past.  The heat greatly increases how fast it
> goes when it leaves.

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
______________________________________________________________
ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org
8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A  7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE