Author Topic: How does shielding mass trade with trip times to Mars - MCT related.  (Read 13198 times)

Offline gbrocki

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I think sending a reactor to mars is making the same mistakes again. Elon is sure that the energy of the sun is the energy of the future and that is what i think. By the way there are other easier ways to use the sun than "only" producing electrical energy: what about using the thermal energy (efficiency over 90%).

Offline CuddlyRocket

Let's keep this thread on-topic folks - otherwise this thread will be reviewed (like the MCT speculation thread) or closed!

The design of a Mars colony itself is surely off-topic for the SpaceX forums (SpaceX is about creating the transportation infrastructure to Mars, not about precisely what is transported), let alone this particular thread. As for nuclear propulsion, shouldn't that be in advanced concepts? IMO we should limit speculation here to what we think SpaceX might be doing based on what we know it's doing; not about what we think it should be doing! :) And there is absolutely no evidence that SpaceX is planning on anything nuclear.

Online guckyfan

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I think sending a reactor to mars is making the same mistakes again. Elon is sure that the energy of the sun is the energy of the future and that is what i think. By the way there are other easier ways to use the sun than "only" producing electrical energy: what about using the thermal energy (efficiency over 90%).

Welcome to the forum. But your question is in the wrong part. There is a whole dedicated section for Mars including discussions on colonies and how they are built and supplied.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?board=21.0

Offline go4mars

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This thread will get a lot more interesting and relevant when SpaceX 3D print's their first pusher plate.  8)  :o   ;D
Elasmotherium; hurlyburly Doggerlandic Jentilak steeds insouciantly gallop in viridescent taiga, eluding deluginal Burckle's abyssal excavation.

Offline Robotbeat

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SpaceX isn't pursuing nuclear technology. The only SpaceX guy who talked about it isn't even working there anymore.
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Offline gbrocki

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Can anyone tell me which constant power (in kW) it needs to reduce the travel-time to mars by 10%, 25% or 50% let's say for a 100t spaceship (without loss of weight by the propulsion).

Offline Robotbeat

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Can anyone tell me which constant power (in kW) it needs to reduce the travel-time to mars by 10%, 25% or 50% let's say for a 100t spaceship (without loss of weight by the propulsion).
No, because you'll always be losing weight via expelling it as propellant. ;)
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Offline gbrocki

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ok - that's right - i just want to get a feeling for the power needed. If you want let's say 20t at mars.

Offline Robotbeat

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ok - that's right - i just want to get a feeling for the power needed. If you want let's say 20t at mars.
...power required is a function of time, payload size (which you gave), and propellant Isp. The higher the Isp, the more power is required (...generally... but if you get too high on the exponential side, I suppose it may be possible to INCREASE the power required by reducing the Isp).
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To the maximum extent practicable, the Federal Government shall plan missions to accommodate the space transportation services capabilities of United States commercial providers. US law http://goo.gl/YZYNt0

Offline gbrocki

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thanks for this little lesson in physics - my lessons at the university (at the time of the first lunar landing) are partly forgotten. So my question changes to the continuous thrust needed to achieve the reduction of travel-time.

Offline Lourens

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gbrocki, this post in the MCT Speculation Thread sums up a brief discussion on this, and should give you a feel for the numbers.
« Last Edit: 01/04/2014 12:27 pm by Lourens »

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