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Re: Explorer Power Gain Problem
- To: T.L.G.vanderLinden@student.utwente.nl (Timothy van der Linden)
- Subject: Re: Explorer Power Gain Problem
- From: kgstar@most.fw.hac.com (Kelly Starks x7066 MS 10-39)
- Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1996 08:23:31 -0500
- Cc: KellySt@aol.com, kgstar@most.fw.hac.com, stevev@efn.org, jim@bogie2.bio.purdue.edu, zkulpa@zmit1.ippt.gov.pl, hous0042@maroon.tc.umn.edu, rddesign@wolfenet.com, David@InterWorld.com, lparker@destin.gulfnet.com, bmansur@oc.edu, DotarSojat@aol.com
At 12:59 PM 3/15/96, Timothy van der Linden wrote:
>>> The formula is right, but the number is only valid when the velocity of the
>>> starship is 5 m/s. The problem with the document is that the meaning of the
>>> number is not told.
>>
>>Now I remember. I calculated the power the drive system would need for a one
>>second boost, and assumed it would be constant for the flight. I.E. if
>>it takes X watts to push the ship at a ship G for a secound. Multiply that
>>by the number of seconds of boost to get to desired speed, and ....
>>
>>Given that the engine should need to output the same power, to accelerate the
>>same mass, at the same rate, at diferent speeds. It seems like it should
>>work.
>
>Ah that makes some sence, you indeed can use this trick to calculate the
>power needed for a self-fueled ship. But keep in mind that the mass of the
>ship may decrease significantly due to the "burning" of the fuel.
>
>Timothy
In my case dramatically! Thats why I droped that and went to using fusion
rockets and standard rocket and specific impulse fuel mass consumption
numbers.
Kelly
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Kelly Starks Internet: kgstar@most.fw.hac.com
Sr. Systems Engineer
Magnavox Electronic Systems Company
(Magnavox URL: http://www.fw.hac.com/external.html)
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