ISS VASIMR

On 29.07.2010 20:18, Victor Smith wrote:
> Frank,
> Not being an electrical engineer, I can't get into detail possibilities as
> to this system. According to the data I've read on the VASMIR system, It'll
> use quite a bit of electrical power both for heating and ionizing the fuel,
> and for creating and maintaining a strong electomagnetic containment bottle
> so as to remove the necessity for an electrode that would rapidly erode as
> in conventional ion engines and combustion chamber/bell chamber. In VASMIR,
> all components are magnetically protected from degradation by strong
> electromagnets which draw power of their own. The literature I've
> referenced fails to get into the exact figures on power needs and usages per
> component, but simply states that:
> Other applications for VASIMR such as the rapid transportation of people to
> Mars would require a very high power, low mass energy source, such as a
> nuclear reactor (see nuclear electric rocket). NASA Administrator Charles
> Bolden said that VASIMR technology could be the breakthrough technology that
> would reduce the travel time on a Mars mission from months to days.
> ^ Morring, Frank (2010). "Commercial Route". Aviation Week& Space
> Technology (McGraw Hill) 172 (6): 2023.
>
> It sounds like what you're looking at is the possibility of a hybrid
> interplanetary craft that would incorporate a VASMIR ion engine as main
> propulsion, with a 'Roller Reefing SSPS array as adjunct thruster and power
> source rather than a nuke, am I correct?