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cannabisized t1_iybktxv wrote

hence why the discovery of ice patches on the moon was so important? future fuel for the spacecraft confirmed!

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Chance_Bluebird_5788 t1_iybnytn wrote

I thought that water was useful because it allows you to obtain H and O separately by electrolysis, then combine them for a powerful chemical reaction. Maybe that's what they're doing here and just not being clear about it. The way it's described it sounds like they're just heating up and expelling gaseous water which doesn't make a lot of sense to me, though I'm not an actual rocket scientist

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cannabisized t1_iybog1y wrote

they called it a "water propellant propulsion system" so I would assume it's just a very scientific way of say they boiled water and directed the steam out to aim themselves along

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passinglurker t1_iybso4s wrote

The simple steam thruster only has specific impulse of 70ms (for the layman trust me when I say this is low, most propellants measure in the triple digits or more). The reason they are doing this isn't for demonstrating ISRU or colonization technologies, its to demonstrate non-volatile low pressure propulsion and attitude control for rideshares cause primary customers already forking millions for a sat and its ride get nervous about the build quaility of bargain seeking hitchhikers laden with hydrazine.

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