Iniciao cientifica: Start with the why

You have the mass-ratio of the rocket (Mr), which is the ratio of the mass of
the fully fueled rocket to the mass of the rocket after it has expended its
propellant. Those figures are related to each other like so:

Mr = e^(delta_V/Vex)

That exponential relationship is why rocketry is so challenging. If you double

the delta-V you square the necessary mass-ratio, but there are maximum
mass-ratios achievable given certain technological limitations of tanks, rocket
engines, and so on. Which is why we use multi-stage rockets, but that's
another story.

So, you can see with a little thought how difficult spaceflight becomes when you
have to use low efficiency (low exhaust-velocity) chemical rockets. Consider
just getting to orbit: 8.5 km/s divided by 3 km/s, gives a ratio of 2.83:1, which
when raised as the power of e gives a mass ratio of 17:1, meaning that only
6% of the liftoff mass of a single stage rocket is going to get into orbit, and the
other 94% has to be fuel (at least with a 3 km/s exhaust velocity rocket). If
you change the rocket exhaust velocity you gain a huge advantage of course,
because you get the better end of the exponential.

OK, so back to the main story line. As it turns out, we don't have fusion rockets
yet, but we do have a lot of the technology to heat up plasmas to high
temperatures, magnetically confine them, and exhaust them through a nozzle.
That means we can use all these bits of technology we've developed for
studying fusion and maybe one day actually pulling it off to create high
exhaust-velocity rockets today. And that's precisely what VASIMR is, it's a
heated magnetically confined plasma with an exhaust. There are designs for
VASIMR engines that have exhaust-velocities of up to 50 km/s, which is orders
of magnitude better than chemical propulsion.

Take a moment to consider that. With such a rocket you could achieve 35 km/s
of delta-V using a mass ratio of just 2:1. That means you could launch a
spacecraft the size of Skylab (70 tonnes) and send it to Mars in only about 20
days, all using only one Saturn V equivalent launch. Take a moment to think
about how transformative that sort of capability is for space exploration. That's
why people are excited about the technology.

But VASIMR has a fundamental, perhaps fatal, flaw. As I mentioned, it's only
half of an engine, it's only a thruster. It's not actually a fusion rocket so it does
require an external power source. And as you might imagine ionizing plasmas
and heating them to enormous temperatures (millions of degrees) requires an
enormous amount of energy. We don't have the power system that could make
full use of a VASIMR thruster, we're talking about many megawatts of power.
Solar power isn't enough, but we do not have a nuclear reactor designed for
space use that is in the power range needed right now. Moreover, even
designing such a reactor would be very challenging because it would have an
enormous heat output which would require enormous thermal radiators.

Right now, in 2016, we fundamentally lack the power sources that are required
to use a VASIMR thruster, and it would take billions of dollars to develop that
technology. Realistically, for VASIMR to be worthwhile, we'd need space nuclear
reactors with power outputs in the multi megawatt range, and it will take an
enormous amount of R&D to get there.

Additionally, there are other types of electric propulsion which are nearly as
efficient but are much smaller and require much less power. For example, ion
engines, hall effect thrusters, or pulsed plasma thrusters. They won't enable us
to zip back and forth to Mars in less than a month, but they also don't require
enormous nuclear reactors that don't exist yet in order to power them.

ASK TIO HOMERO:

DESCARGA GLOW= VASIMR? Como iremos relacionar os dois sistemas, tendo em vista que o
tema central do projeto o mecanismo que rege a propulso VASIMR?