Timeline for What could go wrong if someone overpowered an ion engine?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| May 16, 2019 at 20:09 | comment | added | WaterMolecule | Xenon is the heaviest stable atomic gas. There are a wide variety of molecules heavier than xenon that are gases under standard conditions. While many are toxic and corrosive (tungsten hexafluoride and osmium tetraoxide), some are fairly inert (perfluorobutane and pentafluoroiodoethane). A nice list of heavy gases is here: eugenebo.wordpress.com/2017/01/11/13-heaviest-gases | |
| Feb 28, 2019 at 4:03 | comment | added | uhoh | @AndrewMaxwellRockets I would hold off on accepting an answer until this issue is resolved. | |
| Feb 28, 2019 at 2:52 | vote | accept | AndrewMaxwellRockets | ||
| Feb 28, 2019 at 23:08 | |||||
| Feb 28, 2019 at 2:16 | comment | added | uhoh | @Hobbes double check my math? | |
| Feb 27, 2019 at 20:18 | comment | added | Hobbes | Yes. Xenon is the heaviest stable gas. | |
| Feb 27, 2019 at 19:27 | comment | added | Magic Octopus Urn | @Hobbes while looking for anything related to Radon my google searches were pretty much absolutely flooded with "Radon mitigation in your home!" Good to know though, thanks!! I guess Xenon is just in that "sweet spot". | |
| Feb 27, 2019 at 18:00 | comment | added | Hobbes | Radon is useless. It decays too fast for pretty much any space mission. | |
| Feb 27, 2019 at 17:22 | comment | added | Magic Octopus Urn | @AndrewMaxwellRockets So far I've found that Xenon, mercury (discontinued), bismuth, iodine and argon are propellants commonly used in ion thrusters. Seems that bismuth.iodine are choices for smaller and more compacted storage. Argon because it's cheaper and more abundant. And mercury was used but it was "hard to feed and contaminated parts easier." Also, here's a paper on radon in Ion thrusters! (Note it's a college thesis, fact check everything) | |
| Feb 27, 2019 at 17:16 | comment | added | AndrewMaxwellRockets | What about replacing xenon with radon? | |
| Feb 27, 2019 at 15:43 | comment | added | Hobbes | I don't think so. | |
| Feb 27, 2019 at 15:37 | comment | added | Magic Octopus Urn | Is there a question about using heavier ions than Xenon? | |
| Feb 27, 2019 at 15:18 | history | answered | Hobbes | CC BY-SA 4.0 |