Ramjet starship. Artist's impression of a space vehicle for travelling to the stars. The 25,000- tonne vehicle is powered by an 'interstellar ramjet'. A powerful magnetic field is generated ahead of the ship to 'pull' hydrogen into the fuel scoop at the nose,from where it passes into a fusion reactor. Hot plasma generated by the reactor passes through the exhaust nozzle,providing thrust. Such a ship could theoretically approach 99.999% of the speed of light. Because of Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity,it could travel the 20,000 light years to the centre of our Galaxy in just 28 years of on-board elapsed time,while 20,000 years passed back on Earth | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / Baum, Julian |
Taille de l’image : | 3496 px × 3543 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
Restrictions : | - |