Re: starship-design: Refueling

[KellySt@aol.com]

In flight you can refuel, because space between the stars is prettty much 
empty, and no fule would be worth slowing down to get.

Once in another starsystem (i.e. where your going) you csan refuel from 
materials in the solar system.  Comet cores, gas giants and their moons, etc. 
 Or solid asteroids (not all fusion fuels are gasses).



In a message dated 10/17/02 6:47:47 AM, scifox@asylum30.freeserve.co.uk 
writes:

>After shooting through the deep black for a number of years, accelerating,
>
>breaking, plus any little accidents the ship may have, there probably
>
>wouldn't be much fuel left, so I came to wonder about refueling and came
>up
>
>with a couple of ideas.
>
>These ideas assume a fusion-based power plant using hydrogen or other light
>
>elements.
>
>
>
>First off, gas clouds.  Assuming no legistation has been passed banning
>the
>
>use/destruction of these immense features, my first thought was to extract
>
>fuel from these.  Much like a bussard ram-scoop, suck in gas and store/use
>
>it (btw, is there any reason a bussard scoop couldn't use an electrostatic
>
>feild rather than magnetic?).  However, there's not much gas in this area
>of
>
>space, unless you count gas-giants.
>
>Now, gas-giants are something that are already being picked up orbiting
>
>other stars, so perhaps some form of fuel-harvesting craft would be a
>
>usefull adition to the ships complement?
>
>Of course the atsmosphere of a giant is unlikely to be pure H, so a form
>of
>
>distilery would be needed, which is also needed for my second thought.
>
>
>
>Planetary rings. Now, although the rings are unlikely to be pure ice (as
>in
>
>Asimov's "The Martian Way"), they would likely contain some, as well as
>
>other solidified chemicals.  I perceived the idea of some sort of harpoon,
>
>armoured and equipped with heating elements in the center, vapouring ice
>and
>
>slush and forcing it up a hose to the ship for processing and distiling.
> If
>
>I recall correctly, tests have shown there are also a lot of simple
>
>alchohols in space-born clouds, so perhaps there may be in other forms
>too.
>
>Anyway, having equipment that can extract the H from any molecule containing
>
>it would be useful.
>
>
>
>Leaving a permenant fuelign station in place on a large iceberg seemed
>also
>
>like a good idea at first, but changing the mass of one like that would
>also
>
>change it's behavior and send it out of a previously stable configuration
>
>(again, as happened in "The Martian Way").
>
>
>
>
>
>A few thoughts for people to read,
>
>
>
>Peter