Questions tagged [efficiency]
The efficiency tag has no usage guidance.
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Why is the aperture door of the Hubble Space Telescope so weirdly shaped?
Why is the door not rounder?
I understand it's main purpose is to block sunlight from entering the telescope.
Especially the right side (in the provided image) seems to waste material.
But also the ...
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Which are more efficient: oxidizer-rich or fuel rich rocket engines?
Several internet articles claim that the high Isp of the Soviet RD-180 engine (as used in the Atlas III and V launch vehicles) was (at least partially) due to the fact the RD-180 ran oxidizer-rich, ...
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What is the reason for a LACE rocket to dump fuel?
The concept of LACE sounds awesome, especially the part "fuel is hard to come by in the atmosphere but there's some oxidizer available".
The inefficiency due to the heat exchange ...
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Is using a variable Isp (constant power & acceleration) more efficient than a constant Isp when launching?
So after I wrote a particularly poorly received answer about variable specific impulse, based on discussion I read here, I realise I may have misinterpreted what was being discussed in that thread. ...
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What's the typical temperature of a reactor core in a nuclear thermal rocket?
I am curious of the typical temperature of a nuclear fission reactor in a NTR and I heard that increasing temperature could increase Isp but couldn't find any useful data online. Please provide viable ...
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What is the point of having a central rocket engine when it receives performance losses?
Recently I asked this question about center engine performance and received an excellent answer from @OrganicMarble. The first sentence of the answer is
If anything, the flow field interactions hurt ...
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What is wrong with hydrazine as a monopropellant?
While answering a question about if N2O was a practical monopropellant, I found that hydrazine was considerably more efficient. So, why do people want to replace it with N2O, if hydrazine is more ...
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How to compute each of these link budget terms?
The terms in Equation are all in decibels (dB), which is logarithmically scaled. In Equation, $P_{rx}$ is the received peak power, $P_{tx}$ is the transmitted peak power, $G_{tx}$ is the transmitter ...
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How much has fuel efficiency increased in rockets since the Apollo missions?
I have been talking with a friend of mine and the subject turned to modern rockets versus Apollo era rockets and fuel efficiency.
My friend stated that today’s rockets use half the fuel of the rockets ...
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ISP losses associated with exhaust vane TVC
What is the impact of exhaust vanes, such as those in the A4 and Redstone rockets, on exhaust velocity and overall ISP? As well as this, what is the relationship between ISP losses and the width of ...
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Efficiency in Space Capsule Docking Process
I'm watching the first operational Crew Dragon Capsule proceed through the regimented, and VERY careful International Space Station (ISS) docking process, which was turned on after pausing another ...
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How much more cost efficent are SRB's over the main engine?
Why use SRBs instead of a simpler rocket design that dispenses with SRB's and instead has a bigger main engine?
The Saturn V escaped earth's gravity just fine without boosters. Since then though SRBs ...
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Is it more efficient to burn all needed fuel in an Oberth manoeuvre at once or burn a fraction of the fuel for each orbit?
I was looking into Parker Solar Probes trajectory and was wondering what would be the most optimal way to utilize a retrograde thrust at perihelion to reduce the number of needed gravity assists. I ...
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Is the concept of the Epstein Drive based on actual theorized scientific research which is considered plausable?
I've always found it interesting when we see real life taking its cues from fictional arts, especially when it comes to Science Fiction technology. There are plenty of examples of classic books, TV ...
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What (if anything) limits the efficiency of a rocket engine?
Humans have developed lots of rockets. I observe that in most cases to increase the payload capacity we just increase the amount of fuel.
Is it not possible to exponentially increase the efficiency ...
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