180 seconds is a fairly terrible specific impulse...<p>Hydrazine monopropellant has something like 220 seconds, and the new safer monopropellants are comparable (less specific impulse but denser for less tank mass).
Let's say we found a way to make water the fuel of the future (that is used for all (most) of our needs), should we use it? Isn't water (one of) our most precious resource? Should mankind really risk using (wasting) our precious water? Well, we wouldn't loose it if we use it on earth, but space would be a different story (although, if we only use water as fuel for spacecrafts... it would take a while before we deplete the earth of it). What are your thoughts?
So is the plasma an effect of the superheated steam? Or is the plasma used to heat the steam? Or is it used to collimate the steam...Pretty neat nevertheless. I always had a sweet spot for Ion plasma sources after working in the Semi industry for a couple years.