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Electrical (No Ion) Engine


Dr. Kerbal

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Well, such an "electron drive" could kind-of "work" - for a very loose definition of "work" - if you consider picking up electron from the interplanetary plasma. A positively charged spacecraft will attract the electrons from this plasma (and repel the positive ions/nuclei), so it will neutralize its charge partially from the plasma and not only from the electrons it expelled. So if you limit the number of electrons that you push out to the number of electrons that you can pick up from the plasma then you could generate some net force. My guess is that the force that you can generate this way is smaller than the force from the light pressure of the sunlight on your craft.

And if you want to go that way then I'd suggest looking into more direct ways of accelerating the interplanetary medium around your spacecraft. (Not that I believe this will be a much better idea.)

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