From: fmccall@earthlink.net   
      
   wbogen@visteon.com wrote:   
      
   :I believe the lighter the molecule in the exhaust, the more efficient   
   :the engine?  If so, it might be better to make pellets of silicon (MW=   
   :14) as we process the asteroid, charge them, and accelerate them using   
   :an electrostatic engine.  Oxygen has a molecular weight of 16, would be   
   :rather corrosive in a high-temp exhaust, and is more useful than   
   :silicon for other purposes.   
      
   But do you really want to be spraying what are essentially high speed   
   bullets around where they can eventually hit other spacecraft?  Better   
   something that isn't solid for your 'exhaust'.   
      
   --   
   "Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to   
       live in the real world."   -- Mary Shafer, NASA Dryden   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)