Re: [FT] Railgun/Fuel Chat Results

On Fri, 27 Nov 1998, Tony Christney wrote:
> just a little while ago, tom anderson wrote:
> >the question is, how are you going to turn this energy into thrust?
if
> >you have grav drives or photon drives, then it is complicated but
just
> >requires some machinery.
> 
> Probably the easiest way to create reaction "mass" is to use a 
> very powerful lamp with a parabolic reflector. If you could find 
> a way to get a high efficiency from fusion reaction to photon 
> production, such a drive could actually be quite powerful.

i believe you - the photon drive is an sf staple. if i have my figuring
right, the force you get is the power output divided by the speed of
light. you know, i never did this much physics at school - perhaps Ft
(and
SF) should be be put on the national curriculum?

> Incidentally, the fact that photons are 
> bosons makes them far more suitable for such applications than 
> most other practical particles such as ionized atoms and electrons.

erm ... i'll have take your word for that :-).

Tom