New Mars Forums

soph

Member

Registered: 2002-11-24

Posts: 1,492

Re: combinations?

i have seen a lot of different ideas about propulsion here.  it seems like many of them would have great benefits, in different areas.  is it possible to combine different engines within a launch vehicle?  pulse propulsion to me seems great for short acceleration bursts, while ion drives, if im getting this right, are good for maintaining a long distance speed with low fuel usage.

mauk2

Banned

Registered: 2002-12-10

Posts: 29

Re: combinations?

To restate this in more basic terms:

Due to material strength limitations, there exists an inverse relationship between Isp and thrust.

Therefore, it makes sense to use a high-thrust, low Isp drive for some phases of a flight, and a low-thrust, high Isp drive for other phases of the flight.

This makes perfect sense, as long as the thrust-to-weight and dead mass issues can be made to behave.

soph

Member

Registered: 2002-11-24

Posts: 1,492

Re: combinations?

thanks, thats what i was getting at