Re:The Tyranny of the Rocket Equation (2012)
by wizardforhire on Friday June 29, 2018 @04:50PM
(#17427770)
aerospikes
There’s a lot of reason why they haven’t been used yet, but I think most the compelling argument against them is that they won’t be used until fuel costs become the competitive factor in launch prices.
Re:The Tyranny of the Rocket Equation (2012)
by ballooney on Friday June 29, 2018 @04:56PM
(#17427810)
Aerospikes are not a dramatic improvement in anything. They just buy you a bit more nozzle efficiency, and that only really comes into its own for ssto.
There’s a lot of reason why they haven’t been used yet, but I think most the compelling argument against them is that they won’t be used until fuel costs become the competitive factor in launch prices.
https://youtu.be/K4zFefh5T-8
https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/3004/why-arent-lin...
Nuclear rockets are quite the concept but have their obvious limitations. This video is worth checking out if you haven’t seen it yet.
https://youtu.be/eDNX65d-FBY