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@REPLYADDR Keith Willshaw
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@REPLYTO 2:5075/128 Keith Willshaw
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On 13/08/2023 13:00, Daniel65 wrote:
> Keith Willshaw wrote on 12/8/23 6:16 pm:
>> On 04/08/2023 12:29, Daniel65 wrote:
>>>
>>> I had figured they would use regular rockets to get into orbit and
>>> then switch to Nuclear powered rockets once in orbit.
>>>
>>> Perhaps after mining the Nuclear fuel from asteroids rather than
>>> having to launch it from Earth`s surface.
>>
>> You still have the risk of launching a nuclear reactor which by
>> definition is large and heavy and a failed launch could end up at best
>> in the Ocean and at worst in the middle of a city.
>
> Yeah, that was why I suggested mining the Nuclear fuel from Asteroids
> rather than taking it into orbit from Earth`s surface.
>
>> This explains what an ion thruster is.
>>
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/723/a-brief-history-of-ion-propulsion/
>
> Ta.
There are a few snags here.
1) I doubt there is much in the way of nuclear fuel in the asteroid
belt, yes there will be iron and other heavy metals but finding enough
uranium, enriching it to a useful percentage of U-235 and the
fabricating and testing are tricky enough on earth.
2) The hard part is getting out of the gravity well of our planet.
From what we have learned from probes there are 3 basic types of asteroid.
a) Carbonaceous
b) Silicaceous
c) Metallic
The latter are rare and dont seem to contain much in the way of fissile
materials. If we are lucky they MAY have been separated out by orbital
dynamics but we simply dont know.
If you want a simple way to get to the belt try a light sail.
https://www.planetary.org/sci-tech/lightsail
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