/sci/ - Science & Math

Thorium molten salt small modular reactors.

That's it. That's literally the solution we've been sitting on.

>>12596652

Elaborate.

"It sucks" doesn't suffice as an answer.

C2H6 + O2 has a higher density than CH4 + O2, and C2H6 has a higher boiling point which means it can be stored at warmer temperatures, and on top of that you have a marginal thrust improvement without the dirtiness of RP1.

Yes, you may take a hit on specific impulse. Big fucking deal.

>everyone and their grandmother flipping their shit over the results of this test because the vehicle touched down a wee bit too hard with a decent speed maybe 2m/s higher than it should have been
>implying this is the first SpaceX prototype test to end in failure
>implying any aerospace development projects are seamless

Grow the fuck up doomers.

>>12397824

It could have unironically worked if Lockheed scrapped the SSTO idea and used a version of the orbiter scaled down to around 50%, with the aerospikes swapped with conventional bell nozzles, mounted on top of a conventional 2 or 3 stage stack. A "double bubble" main stage with 2 sets of radial engine clusters at the bottom would be best suited for this task. Conventional side mounted boosters could be fitted as needed.

Lockheed should legit resurrect the Venture Star in this manner as a tanker for propellant depot servicing.