Jump to content

Interstellar Vehicles vs Interplanetary Vehicles


wbcundiff

Recommended Posts

a design concept for a manned mission to Jupiter using a fusion reactor for thrust, Discovery II, called for a vehicle that would be approximately 1,600 metric tons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Craigboy/Discovery_II_(spacecraft)

a concept for an interstellar mission to Barnard's Star at 6 light years away called for an unmanned vehicle with a mass over 50,000 metric tons.

http://news.discovery.com/space/private-spaceflight/project-daedalus-interstellar-spacecraft-design-110308.htm

Or if you just want your mind blown in a hurry. :0.0:

http://news.discovery.com/space/history-of-space/project-daedalus-size-comparison-110119.htm

Whose got two thumbs and is looking forward to building interstellar vehicles in KSP? this ape. thats who.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Discovery II is some aerospace engineers trying to recreate the Discovery from the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey with modern technology. Helium3-Deuterium Fusion, Isp = 35,435 sec, Wet mass 1,690 metric tons, Dry mass 883 metric tons, delta-V 223 km/s, thrust 18 kiloNewtons, initial acceleration 1.68 milli-g. And you though ion drives had a low thrust.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  nyrath said:
The Discovery II is some aerospace engineers trying to recreate the Discovery from the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey with modern technology. Helium3-Deuterium Fusion, Isp = 35,435 sec, Wet mass 1,690 metric tons, Dry mass 883 metric tons, delta-V 223 km/s, thrust 18 kiloNewtons, initial acceleration 1.68 milli-g. And you though ion drives had a low thrust.

Very low trust engines has problems in KSP as we don't want to run drives for weeks with only x4 warp. this is not an problem in real world where it does not matter if the engine runs for one hour or one month for an long trip.

Problem with something like daedalus is that it's marginal capable of reaching an close star, however it would be vastly overpowered inside a solar system.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...