ToughSf / Matter Beam promised yesterday and today, has delivered: Hypervelocity Tether Rockets. (Upon a perhaps-dead poast from May 2020 on the Water Disk Rocket. But anyway.)
The Spinlaunchers however sketchy their history actually have something going. In space ToughSf has noticed that what can push cargo can also push propellant. Thus he sketches out a literal floating saucer - although it won't work in atmo as a flier.
This is possible because the tether-material has only been improving since Kevlar no Zylon no T1100G. We're coming up to the UHMWPE age.
One issue which is noted is that the propellant has to go somewhere, and in Earth orbit it will be drilling into someone else's satellite. So ToughSf recommends it for deepspace only. Also - when not propelling, maybe the exhaust could be used to drill into those rubblepiles we call "asteroids".
No comments:
Post a Comment