For a layman what is proving the main obstacle in developing it to a usable state, is it purely technological issues or a matter of funding?
Quote from: Star One on 04/01/2015 06:45 pmFor a layman what is proving the main obstacle in developing it to a usable state, is it purely technological issues or a matter of funding?Part of the issue is the fact is that it doesn't scale down very well to fit on commercial satellites, and it's really not that different from existing electric propulsion tech even if it could.Also, it pretty much requires superconductors to run, which makes it kind of expensive and more complicated than other types of electric propulsion.
If the VASIMR is not going on the ISS then it needs putting on a medium sized spacecraft. Something with 200 kW of solar power, an RCS, navigation and a dummy payload.To get a 100 hour burn out of the VASIMR Ad Astra will have to invent a vacuum chamber able to handle gas at 1,000,000 degrees for 100 hours.
mainline news article:VASIMR Rocket Could Send Humans To Mars In Just 39 Dayshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/06/vasimr-rocket-mars_n_7009118.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592
Why is it that Zubrin seems to have taken personal umbrage with this technology?
Quote from: Star One on 04/06/2015 09:45 pmWhy is it that Zubrin seems to have taken personal umbrage with this technology?The current NASA administration sees electric propulsion as a gatekeeper technology to sending humans to Mars and Bob doesn't agree. VASIMR is the easy target for attacking electric propulsion as they continue to make absurd claims.
I'm an ignorant person from the Internet, so I better ask: do you have a link to a comment or an overview of the absurd claims you refer?
Quote from: tchernik on 04/06/2015 10:25 pmI'm an ignorant person from the Internet, so I better ask: do you have a link to a comment or an overview of the absurd claims you refer?www.adastrarocket.com/AandS_July_2006_UCD.pdfwww.adastrarocket.com/VASIMR_for_flexible_space_exploration.pdfwww.adastrarocket.com/Andrew-SPESIF-2011.pdfwww.adastrarocket.com/CW102spacefinal.pdf.. and many many quotes in the press with the 39 day travel claim.Is it an absurd claim? Why yes, I think so. In order for it to not be absurd you have to postulate the existence of an in-space nuclear reactor that simply doesn't exist and for which there's no development program. Ya might as well be talking about what the rocket could do if it was mounted on Santa's sleigh.