TL9 Antimatter pion rockets

dataweaver · 05-19-2012, 09:23 AM

How do magnetic sails stack up? My understanding is that they'd be less dependent on social engineering, as you put it; there's also the fact that the force that they generate falls off more slowly than it does for lightsails, making them more attractive for outer-system maneuvering. The only downside I know of is that they can't exceed the speed of the solar wind, putting an absolute upper cap on how fast they can travel through interstellar space.

(I'm not quite so fond of plasma sails; while they apparently get better performance characteristics than magnetic sails, the need to replenish the plasma that leaks out pretty much kills them as a "fuelless propulsion system". But maybe I'm wrong?)

05-19-2012, 09:23 AM	#22
dataweaver Join Date: Aug 2004	Re: TL9 Antimatter pion rockets How do magnetic sails stack up? My understanding is that they'd be less dependent on social engineering, as you put it; there's also the fact that the force that they generate falls off more slowly than it does for lightsails, making them more attractive for outer-system maneuvering. The only downside I know of is that they can't exceed the speed of the solar wind, putting an absolute upper cap on how fast they can travel through interstellar space. (I'm not quite so fond of plasma sails; while they apparently get better performance characteristics than magnetic sails, the need to replenish the plasma that leaks out pretty much kills them as a "fuelless propulsion system". But maybe I'm wrong?)