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+--- Thread: Engineers Propose a Rocket that Consumes Itself as it Flies to Space (/thread-5475.html)
Engineers Propose a Rocket that Consumes Itself as it Flies to Space - C C - Jun 5, 2018
https://www.universetoday.com/139362/engineers-propose-a-rocket-that-consumes-itself-as-it-flies-to-space/
EXCERPT: . . . a team of engineers from the University of Glasgow and the Ukraine recently proposed an entirely different idea that could make launching small payloads affordable – a self-eating rocket! This “autophage” rocket could easily send small satellites into space more easily and more affordably. The study which describes how they built and tested the “autophage” engine recently appeared in the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets under the title “Autophage Engines: Toward a Throttleable Solid Motor“.
[...] an autophage engine consumes its own structure during ascent, so more cargo capacity could be freed-up and less debris would enter orbit. The propellant consists of a solid fuel rod (made of a solid plastic like polyethylene) on the outside and an oxidizer on the inside. By driving the rod into a hot engine, the fuel and oxidizer are vaporized to create gas that then flows into the combustion chamber to produce thrust.
[...] “The propellant rod itself would make up the body of the rocket, and as the vehicle climbed the engine would work its way up, consuming the body from base to tip. That would mean that the rocket structure would actually be consumed as fuel, so we wouldn’t face the same problems of excessive structural mass. We could size the launch vehicles to match our small satellites, and offer more rapid and more targeted access to space.”
MORE: https://www.universetoday.com/139362/engineers-propose-a-rocket-that-consumes-itself-as-it-flies-to-space/