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victorespinoza
Guest
I am working a new propellant, that can help save lives, in dangerous occasions.
Any of you know if already was invented?
Any of you know if already was invented?
I think having invented a propellent of magnets by Victor Elias Espinoza Guedez
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victorespinoza
Guest
No, I mean space propulsion or space ships, to move in the space of a planet to another.
Any of you know if already was invented?
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victorespinoza
Guest
Why can I not use magnets, to generate a impulse of a spacecraft?
Any of you know if already was invented?
Off the top of my head, I cannot think of any practical and viable means of using magnets to propel a spacecraft.
Bear in mind, an electric motor uses magnetism. But to hook up electric motors to a spacecraft... well, I just don't see it getting you anywhere anytime soon.
A solar sail might be considered along those lines (pun not intended)... But again, not the best option for really getting where you wanna go.
Now, the railgun... Hmmm... Build a space capsule like a bullet and build a railgun to launch it in orbit. Fire the spacecraft toward its target.
Spacecraft with no engine.
Although you may need someone on the receiving end to Catch. <sigh> Or, I guess you could build brakes on the thing.
You haven't really given us enough information, but generally, nope, this hasn't been invented because magnets alone won't move a spacecraft.
I'm sure we did the maths for an Earth bound one right here at SF, and it didn't look favourable. Launching from the Moon gives us a smaller gravity well to get out of, but unless we are manufacturing everything there too, it's just an extra step.
Enmos
Valued Senior Member
Wouldn't it be possible to reach much higher speeds, using something like a moon-based rail gun, than would be possible using other existing technologies?
There are many ways. You can react against another magnetic field, like that of a planet or star. You can use magnetic fields to react against a stationary object; push the object in one direction, you go the other. (Usable both if the spacecraft is the thing being pushed or the spacecraft is itself pushing smaller reaction masses; it's all the same from a physics perspective.) You can use magnetic fields to contain charged particles, as in a plasma. This allows high energy nuclear reactions (like fusion) and lower energy plasmas (as in the VASIMR engine) to be contained and used to react against. In theory you could use a very intense magnetic field to capture the solar wind (basically protons) and move yourself. It would be almost like a solar sail.
But you can't just "use magnetic fields" to move yourself without something to react against.