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Chinese astronauts make rocket fuel and oxygen in space

(www.livescience.com)
298 points Teever | 1 comments | 24 Aug 25 17:54 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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habibur ◴[26 Aug 25 22:08 UTC] No.45032963[source]▶
This won't enable perpetual space travel in case anyone thought so.

Rockets need to eject particles to generate force. And to eject 1 kg of fuel, its photo synthesis system has to lose 1 km of mass in one way or another.

The solution is to find a way to generate thrust without rocket fuel ejection.

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Buttons840 ◴[26 Aug 25 22:22 UTC] No.45033094[source]▶
Can we "swim" through space? Collect particles from space, add energy, expell them backwards to generate a net thrust.
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m4rtink ◴[26 Aug 25 22:56 UTC] No.45033348[source]▶
Yep: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bussard_ramjet

Gather interstellar hydrogen, use it to run a fusion engine for propulsion and power. :)

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1. themafia ◴[27 Aug 25 01:17 UTC] No.45034344{3}[source]▶
Also: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Bussard_collector

Star Trek assumed that all warp class vehicles would require them for operation and in-situ fuel replenishment.