[extropy-chat] next generation of ion engines

[Adrian Tymes]

Hmm.  The stats on it as listed at
http://www.estec.esa.nl/conferences/FPD/info/eui-act20051215.pdf
suggest that you could get up to a full Newton of thrust with
100 cm^2 of grid.  I wonder how light one could build an engine
that size?  If one could also find a battery or capacitor
capable of delivering 100 kW over 10-15 minutes, such that
battery/capacitor plus grid was less than a kilogram total mass,
one could use this for ground launches.  (Some googling seems
to indicate that said amount for the energy storage alone - at
about 17-25 kWh/kg - it either well beyond or about at the limit
of current technology, and that's not including the engine's
mass.)

--- Jeff Davis <jrd1415 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMOSTG23IE_index_0.html
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