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Question:
What kind of rocket propulsion systems will we have in a f few years? What will be their acceleration (maximum) and their probable flight velocity? Any info would be appreciated.


Replies:
It is hard to tell. We have tried rockets with solid fuel, liquid fuel, and for a while we tried nuclear reactors as engines. The maximum acceleration will depend on the applied force. Accelerations of a few times the earth's acceleration will be common as they are now. The velocity will depend on the burn time. It is hard to be specific unless you are working for nasa. It might be well to ask them.

samuel p bowen

That is going to be an impossible question to answer, as the folks at NASA do not know. I just saw an article in a recent Aviation Week and Space Technology that a NASA committee is just working on that right now. Their goal is to be totally revolutionary instead of just rehashing old ideas, so the answer to your question is truly difficult to answer. The type of spacecraft this next generation will go in is pretty well determined. The big goal there is a single-stage -to- orbit (SSTO) craft. As the name implies it will launch as one complete unit and remain that way until orbit. Some versions on the drawing board have the ship also being reusable. The first prototype has already been test fired, the DC-X.

timo p grayson


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