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Forum Index : Other Stuff : Microwave thrusters

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norcold

Guru

Joined: 06/02/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 670
Posted: 09:02am 25 Aug 2014
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Pete,
Not just about thermo dynamics, if you follow the YORP effect through google, you`ll find light does have some effect other than from heating one surface causing motion. Also found this little gem from history.
Pressure of light

We come from the land downunder.
Vic
 
flowerpetal
Newbie

Joined: 26/08/2014
Location: Australia
Posts: 5
Posted: 10:49pm 25 Aug 2014
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  Gizmo said   Yeah read about this a couple of days ago. Not much thrust, but the first ion drive didn't have much thrust either. Ions drives got better, and are in use today, but still need a "fuel", that is, something to throw away from the craft to provide thrust in the opposite direction. This gives the ion drive a limited duration.

This new microwave drive needs no fuel as such, so in theory could run for years using electricity from solar cells.

Here's something to think about. If you took a everyday torch, turned it on and put it in space, would it move off in one direction? There would be radiation and photons coming from one end, would this provide thrust? From what I gather, no, as light photons have no mass. If it did work, then we would see development in light drives instead of ion drives or microwave drives.

But a solar sail does work, where light bounces off a reflective surface. Its pushed by light, but not the photon part. ?

See where this is going?

If a torch has no thrust ( I believe, but could be wrong ), but the light from a torch could move a sail, then what would happen if attached a torch to the sail, so its light was reflected off the sail?


Solar sails are pushed by the solar winds made up of subatomic particles ejected by solar flares not light!!
 
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