Sunday, April 28, 2013

The Nuclear Rocket, Part III

It was only a week ago that I first read this book.  What a difference a week makes.  To recap briefly, I discovered that James Dewar was right when he said:
"any space program conducted with chemical propulsion will be limited forever"---p. 26

It will be limited because to increase the amount of thrust linearly you must obtain energy at a rate that is exponential.  Simple as that.  It's very much related to Einstein's famous equation E=mc 2 .  The equations are very similar. Look at them closely and you will see.   Stands to reason that to get thrust, you need to use Einstein's equation with respect to  matter and energy in order to obtain energy at the exponential rate necessary.

So, I'll be taking another look at Dewar's book.  I didn't accept the energy requirements at first.  That little rebellion is over.


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