From: mikkelhaaheim@gmail.com   
      
   Le jeudi 27 octobre 2016 04:06:47 UTC+2, Rick Pikul/Chakat Firepaw a écrit :   
      
   > And thus get caught with its first correction burn to stay on target.   
      
   Not at all.   
      
   >    
   > (N.B.  There is a limit to how small you can make something with an    
   > electric drive.  They get their high Isp at the cost of being power    
   > hungry, meaning either a reactor or nice big solar panels.)   
      
   Depends upon the size of the projectile and the desired thrust/mass ratio   
   (acceleration rate). In most cases (simple uncrewed missiles or small drones)   
   a single sterling engine would provide more than enough power. Keep in mind   
   that current generation    
   space probes use ion drives powered by RTGs.   
      
   True, a full sized VASIMR drive for a small crewed craft will require a solar   
   panel on the order of a few hundred m^2. However, when you are talking about   
   distances on the order of light seconds, even a km^2 is quite tiny. Nor does   
   the increased area    
   increase the likelihood of being detected, as it is the flux per area that is   
   important. The fact that it is flat presents a disadvantage if observed from   
   an angle precisely normal to the surface, but this is the reason for sloping.   
   Of course, a sloped    
   panel needs to be larger to collect the energy from sunlight, but it also   
   gains the advantage of having a larger area to disperse that energy, further   
   reducing detection range... even IF you happen to be normal to the surface.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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