New answers tagged chemistry
-4
Have light gases like hydrogen or helium been explored for ion propulsion?
I'll quote @BobJabobsen:
Whatever, dude. The 2nd to last paragraph of your first cited paper makes the point quite well too. Have they been explored? Yes, and even though they have better Isp, they've been rejected because they're worse for an actual vehicle due to power (not just ...
2
There are several reasons:
Catalyst - In most applications HTP is firstly decomposed to steam an oxygen and than introduced to combustion chamber where spontaneously ignites fuel (usually RP-1). Catalyst pack is usually made from silver plated stainless steel meshes. Many kinds of catalyst can decompose HTP (permanganates, manganese dioxide, lead oxide etc.)...
6
TL;DR: The result will probably be mostly water with significant proportions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas. Small proportions of copper(II) oxide and hydrochloric acid may also be released. There could be other species like nitrogen oxides, chorine oxides, unburnt CuCl2, and other carbon compounds that I'm not considering.
I'm not an expert on ...
Top 50 recent answers are included
