Design and Stress Analysis of Extraterrestrial ... - The Black Vault

Extraterrestrial motors in power from I to 50 kW are promising
with thermoemission, thermoelectric energy conversion with any
nonnuclear heat source. Radioisotope power sources are effective
for systems with thermoelectric energy converters for low-power
motors (from 30 W to 50 kW).
The economy of extraterrestrial motors
The second important requirement for an ERE is, minimum.
expenditure of working medium during its operation, i.e., the best
economy.factor. This is determined by the specific function of
the worki'ng medium.
Specific consumption is
the ratio of the flow rate per second
of the working medium to the thrust level of the motor (kg/N-s):
C,,Mr. (1.2)
In an electrical ERE the entire reserve of the working medium
is located aboard the ship, therefore, we determine the economy
factor of a motor based on the specific impulse.
The specific impulse of a motor is the ratio of its thrust to
the flow rate per second of the working medium: J = R/m T This
value is inverse to the specific flow rate of the working medium.
Specific impulse in
the International System is
WIz=[A N-s/kg (1.3)
Table 1.2 givesa comparison of the specific impulses of plasma
extraterrestrial engines (PEE), ion extraterrestrial engines (IEE),
and liquid propellant rocket engines (LPRE).
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