Re: [GZG] A new vector movement system

Magnetic fields will work to bend a plasma, just fine.	The electrons
all go the other way, but they carry little of the momentum.  Similar,
less forceful, devices are already in use in labs throughout the
world, as magnetic deflection of charged particles is at the heart of
a mass spectrometer.  The numbers are probably daunting for multiple
g's of thrust, but any first-year student of engineering or physics
should be capable of grinding out a first order solution.  The fiddly
refinement is needed to account for the effects of the plasma stream
having a non-zero thickness and producing its own magnetic field.  The
mountings of the magnets will be the structural elements that transfer
the thrust to the ship, so they will be quite heavy.  The only
restriction on the propellant is that it be isotopically pure, as each
nuclear mass will bend at a different radius.

Designing pivots for the atomic rocket engine as a unit, while
thrusting, is comparable to the problem of designing bearings for
heavy cranes-- they both have heavy loads that can change their thrust
line.  Also, as some problems get solved, the rockets themselves
shrink.  The ultimate is when we can simultaneously inject plutonium
and hydrogen into the reaction chamber and run the reactor at prompt
criticality (an ongoing nuclear explosion that limited by the
available fissile nuclei).

On Sat, Dec 13, 2008 at 2:50 AM, Hugh Fisher <laranzu@ozemail.com.au>
wrote:
> Robert Bryett wrote:
>>Thrust reversers, or ducts to direct the thrust of a central engine,
>>imply the ability to "bend" enormously hot, high-velocity streams of
>>plasma or other exhaust. Thrust-reversers would need the power
>>partially to *reverse* the impulse of an interplanetary warship's
>>freaking *main engine*!
>>
>>I'm not saying these things are PSB-impossible, but the machinery
>>would *not* be made of chocolate or massless fairy-dust. There would
>>be serious trade-offs in mass and complexity to achieve the retro-
>>thrust.
>
> Yeah, thrust *reversers* seem a bit unlikely for any
> kind of reaction drive.
>
> What do you think of gimbals and/or some magnetic fields
> to bend the exhaust through a narrower range of angles
> up to 30 degree? That would get rid of the requirement
> to be aligned exactly with the direction of thrust. A
> good thing in game terms, being less fiddly, and to me
> a useful thing if I really were designing a spaceship.
>
>	 cheers,
>	 Hugh
>
> _______________________________________________
> Gzg-l mailing list
> Gzg-l@vermouth.csua.berkeley.edu
> http://vermouth.csua.berkeley.edu:1337/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gzg-l
>

_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@vermouth.csua.berkeley.edu
http://vermouth.csua.berkeley.edu:1337/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gzg-l