Re: Physics help (I found it!)

[KellySt@aol.com]

>>So we can still get a burn down from over 1/4th c with the same fuel ratio.
>>Giving a touch under 17 years for a flight time to Alpha C.  Much better
>>than I was afraid of.

> That mass ratio is only for acceleration OR deceleration, 
> if you want to do both you need to square that mass ratio. 
> (55^2=3025)

No, my Explorer design doesn't use on board fuel for accell out of the sol
system, or return decel.  A bigger problem Is I forgot the 2e7 exaust
velocity was for a He3 system which obviously isn't very feasable for 17
years of onboard storage.  (Liquid helium is incredibly good at geting out of
sealed containers.)  I havent bothered to try to figure out the numbers for
Li6 fueled system yet.  But I remembered they sounded bad.

> Isn't AC a bit too close?

If it would take over 17 years to get to, I'ld say its about as far as we'ld
go.

Kelly