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For Void re laser energy from GEO...
Thanks for this follow up to an earlier report about this company.
The greater detail about working from GEO helps to turn this from a fantasy to something practical.
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For Void ... thanks for bringing Tom Mueller to our attention!
This Wikipedia article might complement the link you provided.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Mueller
I was interested to learn that Mr. Mueller is the designer whose Merlin engine is the model for the Optical Plane studies.
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For Void re interesting post on acceleration of electrons to propel a space craft...
https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 79#p236179
Thank you for this review of the use of electrons for propulsion...
Please ask Co-Pilot to see if it can discover where the electrons are coming from.
The spacecraft is equipped/fitted with a certain number of electrons, which ** must ** equal the number of protons in the system. Electrons are not created in the space craft itself. Please ask Co-Pilot to explain where the electrons needed for propulsion are going to come from.
It is possible the supply of electrons might be presumed to be solar wind, but the article you posted did not make that clear.
A post dedicated to the creation of electrons would be a helpful addition to your series. I presume electrons are created in our Sun, and in all suns through nuclear fusion, but I've not seen anything (or forgot it if I have) about how electrons are made.
I would like to point out that relativistic electrons are a potent radiation hazard, so a space craft using this technique will be creating a hazard for down stream objects (including living objects) for years and great distances.
This doesn't mean humans won't use this technique. It merely means that propulsion using this method will increase the total amount of high velocity radiation that is present in space, so humans who travel in space must protect themselves against relativistic electrons as well as relativistic protons or atoms stripped of electrons such as alpha particles.
If you have a moment more to follow up on the question of relativistic electrons, please ask Co-Pilot to try to estimate the current amount of relativistic electron flow that exists in open space. My guess is that there are as many free electrons moving around in space as there are positively charged objects with protons missing electrons, but that's just a guess. Hopefully Co-Pilot can find scientific studies that have considered this question. For those with a particular interest in accounting for particles, I recognize that the sentence above could have been worded better. Some positively charged objects are missing just one electron, but many are missing more than one electron. For example, alpha particles are missing four, so the number of objects must necessarily be less than the number of free electrons. Perhaps the term "hole" is better, but even that term is not quite right. Perhaps Co-Pilot can provide a better phrasing?
Thanks again for adding this interesting new content to the forum archives.
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For Void re post on electrons as suitable for use as propellant...
Thanks again for introducing this concept to the forum. I appreciate the learning opportunity, and came away with an understanding that a space vessel that uses ionization will be in position to accelerate positively charged objects and an equal quantity of negatively charged objects so as to maintain a balance.
I had not considered this need before you brought the matter to our attention.
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