Mars in 39 days anyone?

Astrorish (Rishi) · #1 22-10-2009, 08:24 AM

I think this is very exciting!

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/10...rs-in-39-days/

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=29356

Had thought rocket propulsion technology had stalled somewhat after the mid/latter 2oth century before I saw this!

renormalised (Carl) · #2 22-10-2009, 11:25 AM

Interesting, but nothing new. ANU developed an engine even more powerful and efficient than this one...actually Dr Diaz came out here to have a look at what we did and was amazed at both the engine and the shoestring budget we had to work with. Unfortunately, unlike the American effort, the effort out here doesn't get any funding from the government or business because they have their heads rammed firmly up their collective rear ends. ESA is actually helping ANU to develop the engine to flight testing with funding and some facilities in Europe.

Astro78 · #3 22-10-2009, 09:30 PM

I thought these couldn't be used for Mars because the acceleration is soooo slow. The max speed is far higher but takes 6+months to get going faster than the current tech being used. Or is that the Ion drive i'm thinking of? Carl?

renormalised (Carl) · #4 22-10-2009, 11:05 PM

The big difference between these engines and the normal type of ion engine is the specific impulse of the engines. For memory, the SI of these engines is an order of magnitude or more larger than normal engines. Plus they also have a greater exhaust velocity than normal ion engines and can also operate at higher voltages. The VASIMR engine has been operating at 200kW and a thrust of 9 Newtons which is a lot more than normal engines can handle. The thrust is still low, however, it's larger than present systems.

In order to get to Mars in a month or so, they'll need engines that can run at 20-30MW, which is possible. The present power output is more than adequate for Earth orbit and Earth-Moon usage.

Here's the HDLT and DS4G, both Australian engines.

Here's some news on the systems...

http://www.azom.com/news.asp?newsID=4751

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