Future exo planetary propulsive system

[sentrynox]

Here's a link about a new tech that is intented to be use by space probes and exo-planetary craft in order to explore inside different atmospheric pressure.

Of course they do want to use such technology to power aircraft here on earth, but the plasma based technology blocks radio communication (as well as jamming radar).

http://www.livescience.com/technology/080612-plasma-saucer.html

So in theory, it could be possible to make a craft that is capable to exit Earth atmosphere by his own, fly into space and fly over Mars surface to return back home on its own...

 

[Dywyddyr]

Unless it carries a LOT of material to ablate as reaction mass then it's an atmosphere only craft.

I wonder how the designer plans to patent it, since the Myrabo Lightcraft is essentially the same thing...

 

[Nasor]

Yeah...since there isn't any air in space, it would need some other type of propulsion. As described, it could only fly to the edge of the atmosphere and hover there.

 

[sentrynox]

Yeah...since there isn't any air in space, it would need some other type of propulsion. As described, it could only fly to the edge of the atmosphere and hover there.

There is not air, but there's a lot of solar winds... Pretty much the same if you ask me, excepted that those particles are charged! Ever heard of space sails that would take in the solar winds (and photons too) to move?

The plasma principle is that it creates a kind of magnetic field that propel matters around it, but it really doesn't matter much because once he reach 100km, he could just use rockets to move to another planet...

Its only a matter of momentum and getting some directional boosters.
Anyhow, it has great potential!

 

[Dywyddyr]

There is not air, but there's a lot of solar winds... Pretty much the same if you ask me

Not the same at all.
It relies on the atmosphere being sufficiently dense on the underside ("inside") to be worth heating/ ionising to produce the thrust.

The plasma principle is that it creates a kind of magnetic field that propel matters around it,

Exactly: matter around it - if the vehicle is heavier than its surroundings then it will remain more or less in place and simply propel any particles away from itself, as opposed to a relatively light/ small vehicle in a huge atmosphere.

 

[sentrynox]

Not the same at all.

It relies on the atmosphere being sufficiently dense on the underside ("inside") to be worth heating/ ionising to produce the thrust.

It isn't the same indeed, It is why the plasma will have to work differently while in space, but I do not yet know the specifics about it, and sadly I might never really learn about it...

Exactly: matter around it - if the vehicle is heavier than its surroundings then it will remain more or less in place and simply propel any particles away from itself, as opposed to a relatively light/ small vehicle in a huge atmosphere.

Then if the atmosphere is huge, so the gravitational pull... So heavier too But thats a little simplistic...

 

[Dywyddyr]

It isn't the same indeed, It is why the plasma will have to work differently while in space, but I do not yet know the specifics about it, and sadly I might never really learn about it...

But in space there isn't enough solar wind or anything to give thrust in a workably steady mode.
That's WHY the article you linked to states specifically

Here is how it works: Electrodes lining the vehicle’s surface ionize the surrounding air.

and

Besides providing surveillance on Earth, Roy also envisions the craft in other atmospheres, such as that of Saturn’s moon Titan, where high air density and low gravity would be favorable to saucer flight.

Then if the atmosphere is huge, so the gravitational pull... So heavier too But thats a little simplistic...

No, it's not that simplistic: gravity is greater but the atmosphere is so much denser and provides some "directionality" to the thrust (helped by the concave underside).
That's why aerospikes work...