Re: starship-design: combined fuel-track/electron beam ?

["Kevin 'Tex' Houston" <hous0042@tc.umn.edu>]

Timothy van der Linden wrote:
> 
> Hi Kevin,
> 
> You had a thought:

yeah, and it almost died of lonliness  ;)

> 
> >1) give the fuel pellets a net positive charge.
> 
> To accelerate the pellets by electrical means?

Yes, partly, but also to help the ship draw them in.

> 
> >2) accelerate the pellets with magnetic and electrical means
> >3) launch the fuel so that the fastest part is launched first.
> 
> Why?

so that at any given moment, the fuel is in front of the ship, and the
electron beam is behind it.

> 
> >4) as the ship launches, beam electrons at it.
> 
> To make the ship attractive for the pellets?

Also to have an energy input and to cancel the net positive charge you
would be accumulating.

> 
> Timothy

-- 
Kevin "Tex" Houston 		http://umn.edu/~hous0042/index.html
Webmaster			http://www.urly-bird.com/index.html
"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and
Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods." A. Einstein