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A comment on SpaceX Is Now One of the World’s Most Valuable Privately Held Companies. Parent comment

Re:SpaceX Is Now One of the World’s Most Valuable Privately ... by trevyn on Friday July 28, 2017 @09:47AM (#14874227)
Possibly not able to carry enough chemical fuel to lift the fuel into space and return and do a controlled landing without refueling? That seems more plausible.

Fuel is heavy, and most of it is spent on... lifting fuel.

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Re:SpaceX Is Now One of the World’s Most Valuable Privately ... by EGreg on Friday July 28, 2017 @12:01PM (#14875230)
But the way the rocket works is creating a continuous explosion behind it. The propellant explodes, pushing the rocket. It's not just the rocket equation, but the explosion from a central point BEHIND the rocket that pushes it further.

Having a nuclear explosion for example behind the rocket would surely be enough to push it into space... even on Jupiter.

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Re:SpaceX Is Now One of the World’s Most Valuable Privately ... by kabouseng on Tuesday August 01, 2017 @04:01AM (#14898654)
"But the way the rocket works is creating a continuous explosion behind it."

Not quite, it's all about mass flow.

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Re:SpaceX Is Now One of the World’s Most Valuable Privately ... by trevyn on Friday July 28, 2017 @02:44PM (#14876518)
Sure, which is why I said chemical fuel. New propellants change the equation.
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Re:SpaceX Is Now One of the World’s Most Valuable Privately ... by angstrom on Saturday July 29, 2017 @01:53PM (#14882263)
Yes, this is what I was referring to. Though there's probably another percentage that makes most rocket fuel also insufficient for anything more than LEO.
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