Re: We Go back to the Moon tonight, after 32 Years
Posted by Mike Kremer on Sep 27, 2003 at 19:56
(62.188.48.74)Re: We Go back to the Moon tonight, after 32 Years (Uncle Al)
Yes, I think you are right. Its basically a thruster experiment.
Now your idea of harvesting the (energy?). I think you meant propellant? Is an excellent idea.
Prehaps one could harvest electrons or any gas permeating space, as a propellant. Accelerate it out the back using wire mesh, similar in principle to an old fashioned radio valve. The final accelerator or anode, charged up to a few Kv and towed a little way aft of the exit nozzel?
Low voltage being generated by solar cells, then converted to high voltage, if no light available, a small radioactive heater and a thermoelectric pack/stack (Seebeck effect). The vacuum of space is good enough to turn a spacecraft into a working Valve.
Some one should try it?