Join AIAA Houston section every Saturday, 8:30am CST, over ZOOM for some networking and chatting all things engineering,
current aerospace, think thank ideas, and processes over coffee.
Hope to see you on Saturday!
Svetlana Hanson
Tag Archives: 2024
AIAA Houston #spacegeekspeak Gathering
Join AIAA Houston section every Saturday, 8:30am CST, over ZOOM for some networking and chatting all things engineering,
current aerospace, think thank ideas, and processes over coffee.
Hope to see you on Saturday!
Svetlana Hanson
Cancelled – May AIAA Social
The AIAA Houston summer kickoff / networking and social event scheduled tomorrow (Thur. May 16) at Nobi is cancelled.
Weather forecasts suggest heavy rain Thursday afternoon and evening in the Houston area, and a
flood watch is in effect Thur. May 16 1pm until Friday 7am.
Stay dry and stay safe – see y’all another time.
Nominate Someone for the ’24 AIAA Elections
The AIAA Houston Section is holding elections for positions in the Executive Committee, including the following
positions:
- Vice Chair
- Openings on the Executive Committee
We have made great strides in our Houston Section, and we are looking for dynamic individuals that are interested in
growing our membership and leading our technical tracks as we progress forward to the Moon and Mars.
If interested, please fill out the form here
by May 17th
As a reminder, we have our section Social every third Thursday of the month.
We also have an upcoming virtual LunchnLearn with special guest Dr. Hashima Hasan.
Happening every Saturday: Join us via Zoom every Saturday for all things space, exploration, engineering,
and more!
Lunch & Learn with Special Guest Dr. Albert Allen Jackson IV
Join AIAA Houston Section for a hybrid Lunch & Learn event with special guest Dr. Albert Allen Jackson IV, this Friday
April
26th, 2024 at 11:30 CST in person and over Google Meet.
Sign up to attend: Lunch-n-Learn Sign UP
“The Interstellar Ramjet: A Technical History”
In 1960 Robert Bussard published a solution to the mass ratio problem for interstellar flight. He laid out
the design of a starship that scooped interstellar hydrogen compressed it in a fusion reactor, extracted energy
and produced thrust. The process is similar to a terrestrial ramjet.
Bussard outlined the propulsion method, presented the equations of
motion and made general assessments of performance and
propulsion efficiency.
Sagan suggested magnetic ‘scoops’ for collecting working
matter from the interstellar medium. Fishback in 1969 calculated
important limitations on the ramjet magnetic intake and quantified
drag and radiation losses for the ramjet.
Fishback showed there was a limiting Lorentz factor for an
interstellar ramjet imposed by the material properties of the scoop
source.
Tony Martin expanded Fishback study and made some
important observations. The main problem with the concept was
using proton-proton reactions for fusion, this proves very difficult.
In 1975 Dan Whitmire made progress towards solving the fusion reactor problem of the interstellar ramjet
by noting that one could use the CNO process rather than the PP mechanism as method of fusion operation.
Bond and Jackson suggested alternative ramjet operation using augmentation. An alternative to the
Bussard Ramjet was presented in 1977. The Laser Powered Interstellar Ramjet, LPIR. This vehicle uses a
solar system-based laser beaming power to a vehicle which scoops interstellar hydrogen and uses a linear
accelerator to boost the collected particle energy for propulsion bypassing fusion reactor problems.
Link:
https://meet.google.com/iyr-kzbv-pbc
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/iyr-kzbv-pbc?pin=9178300833796
Or dial: (US) +1 314-474-3017 PIN: 913 841 786#
Hope to see you there!
AIAA Houston Section