Ion Engines.

[SpaceplaneAddict]

What is the best possible (and least draggy and weighty) way to power six ion engines?

Thanks!

-SPAddict

[max_creative]

Just now, SpaceplaneAddict said:

least draggy

Your working on a new long range spaceplane or something aren't you? Oh well. 

You could use RTG's You could put them in a service bay to make it less draggy I guess, but they are still kinda heavy. The non-moving solar panels aren't that draggy and have the best power to mass ratio. The covered ones are also not very draggy but are relatively heavy. I don't know a lot about spaceplanes, but if you are trying to make a long range spaceplane, I would not recommend fuel cells. 

I have no idea what you are doing, but because you are addicted to spaceplanes I would basically say the non moving solar panels or a few RTG's and some batteries. Just what I say. I'm not a power source expert. I do know a lot about impacting parts with stuff though. (I spent 10 minutes just trying to find out the best way to destroy a mk3 cockpit.) 

Have fun with whatever your working on! 

*whatever you feel when impacted with the random thing that @SpaceplaneAddict is working on.

[Snark]

RTGs are gonna be a non-starter for ion engines, if you're trying to save weight.  It takes 960kg of RTGs to power a single ion engine-- not a very attractive tradeoff.

Do you need something that can power the engines indefinitely / continuously?  Or are you willing to go with a solution that can run for a few minutes at a time on stored power, with rests in between to charge back up?

Would help to have an idea of what your use case is.  Can you describe the mission you're trying to design?

[SpaceplaneAddict]

12 minutes ago, Snark said:

Do you need something that can power the engines indefinitely / continuously?  Or are you willing to go with a solution that can run for a few minutes at a time on stored power, with rests in between to charge back up

I need a minimum of 3.5 minutes of burn time. minimum.

Edited June 10, 2016 by SpaceplaneAddict

[bewing]

In atmosphere, or in space? If in atmosphere, which celestial object and how high? Are you going to be reentering atmosphere afterward? Or sit in space forever? That "draggy" part, as max_creative suggests, implies that some part of this is going to be in atmosphere, and that puts some severe limits on solar possibilities, which otherwise would be your best bet.

Well, in any case, if this is a 2.5 meter stack, then you are only talking about 10100 zaps to power 6 dawns for 210+ seconds -- so 3 of the Z-4k batteries would cover it.

Edited June 10, 2016 by bewing

[SpaceplaneAddict]

Mk 1 stack, yes, it's for a spaceplane

[bewing]

OK, then I'd say use 10 of the Z-1K batteries, and put one or more retractable 1x6 solar arrays on the thing. You'll get your 3.5 minutes, and then you can recharge.

[Foxster]

I'd be using three fuel cell arrays and enough LF+O to match. You need "amount of Xenon x 0.02" of LF(+O). 

Edited June 10, 2016 by Foxster

[SpaceplaneAddict]

It's OK now count the question as resolved, as I've found the solution in converting both top and bottom of both wings w/ static panels. Here hoping it works!

*Determination.

[Snark]

4 hours ago, SpaceplaneAddict said:

It's OK now count the question as resolved, as I've found the solution in converting both top and bottom of both wings w/ static panels. Here hoping it works!

*Determination.

Great, glad to hear it's worked out for you!

Just an FYI:  if you ask a question and consider it to be answered, you can mark it as such so folks can see that.  Just pick whichever post in the thread you consider to be "the" answer to your question, and click the little check-mark-in-a-circle over on the left-hand side.  That will make it turn green, and mark the topic as "answered" in the topics list.

[Ultimate Steve]

When I attempted an ion plane challenge, I used fuel cells.