- #1
dansmith170
- 45
- 11
- TL;DR Summary
- A rocket that builds its own propellant.
Hi,
I've posted recently about multiphoton Breit-Wheeler matter production. The goal I had in mind for producing a large quantity of positrons and electrons was so that a rocket could make its own propellant without having to carry any propellant along with it. Ultimately, the goal being to send a spaceprobe to the Alpha Centauri star system in less than 500 years.![Stick Out Tongue :-p :-p](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breit–Wheeler_process
I don't think the rocket equation exactly applies since there is no onboard propellant to speak of.
The bad news is we would need to find a way to produce a total of 1e24 electrons in 1 second (assuming a 1000 kilogram spaceship) in order to produce 1000 N of force per second on the spaceship.
(I can show my reasoning on that if you're interested).
I guess it's kind of unrealistic, although perhaps not impossible! What do you think? Any comments, suggestions, or objections are welcome.
I've posted recently about multiphoton Breit-Wheeler matter production. The goal I had in mind for producing a large quantity of positrons and electrons was so that a rocket could make its own propellant without having to carry any propellant along with it. Ultimately, the goal being to send a spaceprobe to the Alpha Centauri star system in less than 500 years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breit–Wheeler_process
I don't think the rocket equation exactly applies since there is no onboard propellant to speak of.
The bad news is we would need to find a way to produce a total of 1e24 electrons in 1 second (assuming a 1000 kilogram spaceship) in order to produce 1000 N of force per second on the spaceship.
![Gah! :H :H](/styles/physicsforums/xenforo/smilies/arghh.png)
I guess it's kind of unrealistic, although perhaps not impossible! What do you think? Any comments, suggestions, or objections are welcome.