All Questions
Tagged with spaceships rockets
16
questions
10
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Engine most likely to be available in the next 80 years to accelerate a craft at 1g for 4 weeks
I posted this in Space SE, but someone suggested I also post it here. So here it is!
I am wondering what type of engine would most likely be available in the next 80 that can constantly accelerate a ...
- 203
2
votes
2
answers
217
views
Can we use magnetic fields to make metalic hydrogen for rocket fuel?
Metallic hydrogen is probably the best possible chemical rocket fuel. It would make single-stage-take-off possible. The trouble is the stuff is extremely hard to contain, and requires exotic fuel ...
- 5,165
1
vote
0
answers
51
views
What is the highest g planet that can be escaped with current rocketry technology? [duplicate]
A spacefaring race in my story evolved on a high g planet. This made them smaller, stockier and stronger than most other spacefarers. The question is just how high their planet’s gravity could be ...
- 66.4k
5
votes
3
answers
312
views
Huge Acidic Planet [closed]
I have this planet that is mostly composed of an unknown acid. Lets name this acid, Substance X. However we can survive on this planet with basic rubber suits, as this acid cannot burn through rubber ...
- 161
3
votes
2
answers
181
views
Could a self-consuming rocket be useful or cheaper than regular ones?
Technically speaking, all rockets are self-consuming, since they are basically tin cans with fuel. And to carry even less weight with then, they have stages. Allowing not only the rocket to go farther,...
- 293
9
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Why would NSWR's be used when Orion drives are around?
In the setting I'm making, Orion drives are one of the primary forms of propulsion used in spacecraft. I have been thinking of adding Nuclear Salt Water Rockets (the lithium variety) alongside Orion ...
- 4,971
-3
votes
2
answers
111
views
Backyard Planetary Escape: From the Earth to the Moon, the Jeb Kerman way [closed]
A pair of aerospace engineers discovers that the New World Order wants to depopulate Earth by means of starting a nuclear war on the 1st of January of [Enter number between 2025 and 2040]. The elite ...
- 6,305
19
votes
7
answers
12k
views
Is it necessary for spaceships to include reverse thrusters for deceleration in space?
Set in the not so distant future, space travel becomes commonplace but is limited within the heliosphere. I'm thinking since it is fuel efficient and more economical to use gravity assist to slow down ...
- 48k
4
votes
1
answer
224
views
Spin gravity on an abandoned ship
If a cylindrical rocket ship with a diameter of about 350 meters were spinning on its long axis, would more than just the interior surface of the outer hull have artificial gravity?
The ships decks ...
- 155
10
votes
6
answers
2k
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Could there be something like aerobatic smoke trails in the vacuum of space?
Whether exhaust from a solid rocket engine, or something released by spaceships in flight (like aerobatic smoke in the atmosphere), could extended trails behind a ship be created that would not ...
- 1,279
0
votes
1
answer
133
views
Is using light as a reactive mass in a rocket engine possible? [closed]
How practical would be a rocket that would use laser light as a reactive mass, given there is a very efficient electric energy source or storage?
- 5,360
6
votes
5
answers
378
views
Space ships with launch engines AND space engines
I'm no rocket scientist, but I've been reading up on some basic concepts of rocket science (including some great talks here). As far as I've gleaned, there's two extremes of rocket thrusts: high speed/...
- 61
9
votes
5
answers
2k
views
How would a real modern day space shuttle operate without satellites or any kind of communications signals?
What role do satellites, communication towers, GPS, etc, play in the operation, and specifically the landing, of a space shuttle?
If those and any other human-made things suddenly disappeared, could ...
- 447
2
votes
2
answers
386
views
Would it be safe to assume that solid core nuclear rocket technology advances?
Solid Core Nuclear Thermal rocketry has existed for a while and I was thinking about using it as the primary propulsion in my setting. Now most Solid Core rockets still have fairly long transit times (...
- 3,937
8
votes
8
answers
603
views
Problems When Disguising A Spaceship As An Airplane?
Our Heroes are a small group of people around the level of the heroes of The Skylark Of Space. Operating on a budget of maybe ten million dollars, they've built a spacecraft with a mass somewhere ...
- 823