Difference between revisions of "Propulsion - Internal Energy, Internal Reaction Mass"
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Examples include: | Examples include: | ||
[[Hydrolox Engine]] | [[Hydrolox Engine]] | ||
Nuclear-Thermal Rocket | Nuclear-Thermal Rocket | ||
[[Photon Rocket]] | [[Photon Rocket]] | ||
Onboard power such as a nuclear reactor can also be used to supply electricity, which can be used to power various forms of electric rocket such as: | Onboard power such as a nuclear reactor can also be used to supply electricity, which can be used to power various forms of electric rocket such as: | ||
[Ion Engine] | [Ion Engine] | ||
Revision as of 18:42, 1 December 2021
The classic rocket. The vehicle carries a supply of one or more substances that, singly or in combination, release energy (the 'fuel') and the energy is used to push a stream of mass (the 'reaction mass') out of the vehicle -- exhaust goes one way, vehicle accelerates the other way. It is a common case for the fuel and the reaction mass to actually be the same thing (as in a chemical rocket, where you burn two chemicals and the reaction products form the reaction mass) in which case they are more commonly called 'propellant'. But they may be separate things; in a nuclear-thermal rocket, the 'fuel' is the fissionable material in the reaction, and the 'reaction mass' is pushed through the reactor, made hot, and ejected through a nozzle.
Examples include:
Nuclear-Thermal Rocket
Onboard power such as a nuclear reactor can also be used to supply electricity, which can be used to power various forms of electric rocket such as:
[Ion Engine]