NASA and Ad Astra team up to test VASIMR plasma rocket in space - Polidicks

[quote=Engaget] [img]http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/03/3-11-11-vasimr-tomoon.jpg[/img] Plasma propulsion may very well be our ticket to visit those little green men on Mars, which is why NASA is becoming besties with Ad Astra, makers of the VASIMR VX-200 plasma rocket. After successful terrestrial testing, the next step is to try out a VF-200 flight model in space -- and a new agreement gives NASA engineers access to VASIMR while letting Ad Astra leverage NASA's spacecraft expertise to get it into orbit. The plasma rocket was assumed to be destined for use on the International Space Station because it requires far less fuel than conventional boosters -- making it better suited than the propellant-hungry thrusters keeping the station in orbit today -- and can take advantage of the ISS's considerable electrical power (250kW) to fully test VASIMR's 200kW output. Plasma rockets produce sustained thrust, as opposed to the quick bursts of its chemical cousin, which makes it the preferred means of propulsion for space travel as well. NASA hasn't fully committed to either use -- but if Marvin and his fellow Red Planet denizens know what's good for them, they'll be watching VASIMR's development with great interest. [/quote] Source: [url]http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/11/nasa-and-ad-astra-team-up-to-test-vasimr-plasma-rocket-in-space/[/url]

Neat, glad NASA is still trying to do new stuff even with budget cuts. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIg6pWwezEU&feature=related[/media]

What's North Korea's flag doing in that picture? :raise:

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;28557047]What's North Korea's flag doing in that picture? :raise:[/QUOTE] Someone has a sense of humor or didn't bother looking up the right flag? Or glorious leader is piloting the ship.

Not going to be surprised if it ends up crashing in the ocean during take-off.

"VASIMR does not use electrodes and magnetically shields plasma from all the hardware parts, thus eliminating electrode erosion, a major source of wear and tear in ion engines. Compared to traditional rocket engines with very complex plumbing, high performance valves, actuators and turbopumps, VASIMR eliminates practically all moving parts from its design (apart from minor ones like gas valves), maximizing its long term durability.[I][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed"] [/URL][/I] However, some new problems emerge like interaction with strong magnetic fields and thermal management. The relatively large power at which VASIMR operates generates a lot of waste heat which needs to be channeled away without creating thermal overload and undue thermal stress on materials used. Powerful superconducting electromagnets, employed to contain hot plasma, generate tesla-range magnetic fields[U].[/U] They can present problems with other on board devices and also can adversely interact with Earth magnetosphere. To counter this latter effect the VF-200 will consist of two 100 kW thruster units packaged together with the magnetic field of each thruster oriented in opposite directions in order to make a zero-torque magnetic quadrapole." So in short, the engine needs to be shielded as fuck because if it ever interacts with anything it will fry all electrical systems. It has next to no moving parts which is an enormous advance in rocket engines but creates more waste heat this way. Interested to see how this turns out. Oh, and it can't be used for payloads since it needs a vacuum to operate, as it seems.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;28557047]What's North Korea's flag doing in that picture? :raise:[/QUOTE] Haha, didn't even notice that

:foxnews: North Korea funding NASA? More at 10

Why is the British flag on it even? Also what's happened with Britain officially joining the space program?

[del]I think that may be the Spanish flag. I didn't even know Spain had a space program.[/del] [QUOTE=TurbisV2;28561289]:foxnews: North Korea funding NASA? More at 10[/QUOTE] Better them than nobody.

Oh, wow, they're finally using the VASMIR. That's the cool way to sail the stars.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;28557047]What's North Korea's flag doing in that picture? :raise:[/QUOTE] [img]http://topnews.in/law/files/kim-jong-il-smiling.jpg[/img] [I][B]"It's arr going according to pran..."[/B][/I]

[QUOTE=Canary;28561461]Why is the British flag on it even? Also what's happened with Britain officially joining the space program?[/QUOTE] Don't you remember the Beagle 2? [img]http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40203000/jpg/_40203969_trolley203.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;28557047]What's North Korea's flag doing in that picture? :raise:[/QUOTE] It's the costa rican flag, Ad Astra is a costa rican company [img]https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/graphics/flags/large/cs-lgflag.gif[/img]

I wonder how many people here realize how fucking important this is? These plasma rockets are the god damned future of interplanetary travel. We're talking of turning an earth to mars trip from several months(at optimal trajectory), to a couple of weeks. This is a big fucking deal, and I hope, with every fiber of my being, that people interested in this(or not) understand the incredible implications of this.

[QUOTE=Canary;28561461]Why is the British flag on it even? Also what's happened with Britain officially joining the space program?[/QUOTE] I assume, like everything here, the banking crisis happened.

why isnt there australian flag on it? kangaroos have been proven good to getting rockets into space

[QUOTE=Canary;28561461]Why is the British flag on it even? Also what's happened with Britain officially joining the space program?[/QUOTE] A lot of parts and technology used in many satellites is British, made near where I live, in fact