Scotius

It is a dilemma as old as rocketry. Usually you want your engine as efficient as possible. Thus, Isp is king. But... you also want your engine powerful enough to move your craft at reasonable pace. For that you need good thrust. Current engines we can built, can have one. Electric engines give high fuel efficiency, chemical rockets give high power. How can we combine the two? Ideas range from: Literally combine two separate engine sets on one rocket. Chemical engines for high energy maneuvers, electric engine for interplanetary cruise... To crazy sci-fi ideas like Saltwater rocket or Orion. In-between lie more sensible projects like NERVA, VASIMR, MagnetoPlasmaDynamic thrusters or Fusion Pulse engines. But hybridising ion and chemical engine? It looks kind of 'Meh' to me. It will significantly increase the mass by adding chemical fuel (with necessary tankage and plumbing), while crippling the biggest advantage of the electric engine (high Isp!), without increasing thrust appreciably.

Everybody!!! RUUUUUUUNNNNNN!!!

Huh. I always thought stalkers in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe excuse their heavy drinking habits by half-jokingly insisting booze reduces harmful effects of radiation doses. And all the time it was (at least partially) true... Today i learned something new

Yeah, sure - go ahead. Take away all our fun of flying around in nuclear powered rockets without the headache of dealing with those pesky by-products of fission

Some people build tiny houses out of matches. Some people build rafts from empty plastic bottles. And some people sit on top of boilers full of overheated steam and launch themselves in the air. A hundred years ago this guy would be a pioneer and trailblazer. Today? He's resourceful-but-crazy weirdo conspiracy theorist.

And we actually have a liftoff!

I would believe it, if Vostochnyi was at least partially operational. As it stands... what are the alternatives to Baikonur? Kapustin Yar? Plesetsk?

"So. I got up in the morning. Then took a taxi to spaceport. Boarded a shuttle, transferred to the jumpship and ten minutes later we were in Tau Ceti system. Unfortunately we emerged about seven light - minutes from our destination, so it took forever to reach the planet and land. Good thing i took a magazine with me - i had plenty of time to read it, and solve the crossword while we were blazing along Brachistochrone trajectory. And how was your day, darling?" Yeahhhhh.

Access to unlimited anything kills the drama. I remember a fragment from a classic Sci-fi novel "What mad Universe." Protagonist gets transported to alternative reality based on imagination of one particularly active and obnoxious inventive member of a science fiction magazine fandom (yes, it is a spoof on the die-hard, rabid fans ). It's every nerd's dream come true : square - jawed heroes in silvery space suits flying FTL spaceships across the Universe, ongoing interstellar war with agressive aliens and plenty of "space girls" clad in very... very... skimpy outfits to woo. Unfortunately... science fiction is sadly no longer a thing. Since you can actually buy and fly an FTL - capable spaceship literally everywhere you want, fiction is no longer a part of the equation. Time travel stories are everything left that can be still qualified as sci-fi. Rest is adventure and "space western" stories. Protagonist finds this... disconcerting, though he eventually learns how to play rules of this mad world to his advantage So, if you are thinking about dabbling in such stories, please do remember that excess of anything can quickly kill any setting and any story.

D'oh! Spot check failed And to think - we thought one needs at least a barn to build a spaceship. Well, nope - all you need to do, is to stack some containers around - and you are good to go

Are those big, giant slabs of styrofoam acting as windbreaks?

Parafoil! Oh, if only we could get recording of fairing halves gently gliding towards catcher ships

Fuel cells able to generate current for two weeks straight? I predict a lot of problems with that - or with making them small\light enough.

Yeah, it will rest in a good company. Who knows? Maybe couple of hundreds of years in the future, underwater archeologists will comb seafloor in search of early space age artifacts? We've already fished up Saturn's first stage (remains of) and placed engines in museum.

Mmmmm, pretty. Sleek. Just like the rocket it will serve.

This. And for good reason. Every mine is a huge strain on local ecosystem. So is almost any factory - because no matter how good filters are, somethings going to spill outside. If we could take the worst offenders away without losing their industrial capacity, it would pay back well in long run. Maybe not financially - but not chocking on the air we're trying to breathe would be huge in itself

It's sad that biggest piece of news about space company... is a bit about them modifying a bluewater ship. Yes, it implies that BO actually does have ( will have) a rocket to land on said ship - but a photo or two of the spaceship would be much better to see

Rats can literally smell ionising radiation. That would be useful for the crew in case of reactor leak. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0031938466900588

That's a lot of fire. And smoke. I don't want to be a bad prophet, but environmentalists will not be happy

Live view start! Weather looks... spotty Annnddd... HOLD and scrub due to weather. Better luck tomorrow

Too bad it's night launch. Sky looks clear - we could get a good view of Korolov's Cross Successful launch. Good old Soyuz worked perfectly, bird is in orbit, crew is safe. Happy anniversary of Apollo 11 Launch day

Liftoff!!!

Sooo... engine is good. Maybe it's time to start working on that small idea of reusability that is making the rounds on the market?

What exactly are you afraid of? Isn't being human all about curiosity? Exploring the unknown, finding new things, pushing the horizon away? We didn't get where we are now, by barricading ourselves in caves. Sure - our ancestors were afraid of things in the dark. And rightly so. But then they mastered the fire, tools and cooperation - and now we have to protect things in the dark from "extinction by Homo sapiens". "The only thing we need to be afraid of, is fear itself."

Probably there is. But "See a stranger ----> immediately commence murder" is not a major part of our behavioural make-up. If it would, any long distance trade, exploration or migration would be next to impossible. And yet we have tangible evidence of such activities across the world, beginning from Stone Age.