Quick Look Tables

To summarize previous chapters, g-force acceleration can take us to planets in days; even the most distant destinations within the Kuiper Belt will take at most weeks.

Interplanetary Flight Profile

PHASE I. Departing Earth,our notional spaceship constantly accelerates at g (10 m/s2) to simulate gravity and travel much quicker then constant velocity vehicles. After only 3.16 days, it reaches midway (2.5 AU) of our 5 AU journey.			PHASE II. Midway between Earth and Jupiter (i.e., d/2 = 2.5 AU), spaceship velocity exceeds 2,700 km/sec. To decrease this speed and still simulate gravity,spaceship reverses fuel exhaust vector to decelerate at g for remaining 3.16 days of travel.
g = 0.5 AU/dy2 g = 10 m/sec2	Distance	Acceleration Time	Max Velocity	Deceleration Time	Accel + Decel
	to Earth	Dept to Midway	(at midway)	Midway to Dest	Travel Time
	(AU)	(days)	(km / sec)	(days)	days)
NEO	1	1.41	1,218	1.41	2.83
Mars	2	2.00	1,728	2.00	4.00
Jupiter	5	3.16	2,730	3.16	6.32
Saturn	10.0	4.47	3.864	4.47	8.94
Uranus	20.0	6.32	5,464	6.32	12.64
Neptune	30.0	7.75	6.693	7.75	15.50
Kuiper Belt	45	9.49	8,200	9.49	18.97
Earth's escape velocity, e = 11 km/sec	d	tACCEL = √ d g	g = 864km/sec / day VMax = tACCEL*g	tDECEL = √ d g	tTTL = 2 * √ d g

Traditional Momentum Exchange (Newtonian)

v_fuel : 10%c to 90%c

---

300 * m_fuel * v_fuel/ V_ship = M_ship

M_ship: 3 to 27 metric Tonnes (mTs) {traditional momentum model}

---

k * m_fuel * v_fuel/ V_ship = M_ship

---

Definitions

• m_fuel : mass of fuel consumed for each second of flight (grams)
• v_fuel : velocity of fuel particles as they exit spacecraft (decimal c, light speed). Assume c = 300,000,000 m/s.
• V_ship : velocity increase of spacecraft during one second of flight (m/sec)
• M_ship : mass of spacecraft which can be propelled by momentum of fuel particles (metric Tonnes)
• k : conversion constant to account for mix of units in both velocity and mass. In this case, k= 300.

mfuel	vfuel	Vship	Mship
gram	dec. c	m/s	mT
1	0.1	10	3
1	0.2	10	6
1	0.3	10	9
1	0.4	10	12
1	0.5	10	15
1	0.6	10	18
1	0.7	10	21
1	0.8	10	24
1	0.9	10	27
Const.	IV	Const.	DV

---

---

Relativistic Momentum Exchange (Einsteinian)

v_fuel : 10%c to 90%c

---

300 * m_f-LT * v_fuel/ V_ship = M_ship

M_ship: 3 to 62 metric Tonnes (mTs) {relativistic momentum model}

m_f-LT= m_fuel/(1-v²_fuel)^1/2

---

k * m_f-LT * v_fuel/ V_ship = M_ship

Definitions

• m_fuel : mass of fuel consumed for each second of flight (grams). Assume a constant 1.0 grams for this table.
• m_f-LT : Uses Lorentz Transform (LT) to determine increased mass of fuel after being accelerated to v_fuel, a significant fraction of light speed.
• v_fuel : velocity of fuel particles as they exit spacecraft (decimal c, light speed). Round c to 300,000,000 m/s.
• V_ship : velocity increase of spacecraft during one second of flight (m/sec) . Assume a constant 10 m/s.
• M_ship : mass of spacecraft which can be propelled by momentum of fuel particles (metric Tonnes)
• k : conversion constant to account for mix of units in both velocity and mass. In this case, k= 300.

mfuel =1.0 gm	c=300,000,000 m/s	Vship= 10 m/s
mf-LT	vfuel	Mship
gram	dec. c	mT
1.00	0.1	3
1.02	0.2	6
1.05	0.3	9
1.09	0.4	13
1.16	0.5	17
1.25	0.6	22
1.40	0.7	29
1.67	0.8	40
2.29	0.9	62
mfuel/(1-v2fuel)1/2	IV	DV

---

---

Daily Fuel Flow

---

v_fuel : 10%c to 90%c

---

ff_day / M_ship=%TOGW / day

%TOGW: 2.8% to 0.14% (less is better!!)

m_f-LT= m_fuel/(1-v²_fuel)^1/2

---

k * m_f-LT * v_fuel/ V_ship = M_ship

Definitions

• m_fuel : mass of fuel consumed for each second of flight (grams) Remains a constant 1.0 grams for this table.
• ff_day: amount of fuel consumed per day of flight. Since 1 day = 86,400 secs, this amount is 86,400 times fuel per second. Since we're assuming 1.0 gram per sec, ff_day turns out to be 86.4 kgm for this table.
• m_f-LT : increased mass of fuel after being accelerated to v_fuel, a significant fraction of light speed.
• v_fuel : velocity of fuel particles as they exit spacecraft (decimal c, light speed). Assume c = 300,000,000 m/s.
• V_ship : velocity increase of spacecraft during one second of flight (m/sec)
• M_ship : mass of spacecraft which can be propelled by momentum of fuel particles (metric Tonnes)
• %TOGW: Percent Take off Gross Weight is the amount of ship's mass needed to convert to energy (i.e., must be in form of fuel) to propel the ship for the entire trip.
• %TOGW/day: Amount of ship's mass needed to convert to energy to propel ship for that day; hence, %TOGW = ff_day / M_ship .
• k : conversion constant to account for mix of units in both velocity and mass. In this case, k= 300.

mfuel = 1.0 gm	vfuel	Vship= 10 m/s	ffday=86.4 kg
mf-LT	vfuel	Mship	%TOGW /day
gram	decimal c	mT	% / day
1.00	0.1	3	2.87%
1.02	0.2	6	1.41%
1.05	0.3	9	0.92%
1.09	0.4	13	0.66%
1.16	0.5	17	0.50%
1.25	0.6	22	0.38%
1.40	0.7	29	0.29%
1.67	0.8	40	0.22%
2.29	0.9	62	0.14%
mfuel/(1-v2fuel)1/2	IV	DV	ffday/Mship

---

---

---

Ranges and Efficiencies

v_fuel : 10%c to 90%c

---

Theoretical Range: R_theo=100% /%TOGW / Day

---

Feasible Range: R_feas=50% /%TOGW / Day

---

Practical Range: R_prac=25% /%TOGW / Day

---

R_prac: 9 to 179 days (more is definitely better!!!)

m_f-LT= m_fuel/(1-v²_fuel)^1/2

---

k * m_f-LT * v_fuel/ V_ship = M_ship

---

Definitions

• m_fuel : mass of fuel consumed for each second of flight (grams) Remains a constant 1.0 grams for this table.
• m_f-LT : increased mass of fuel after being accelerated to v_fuel, a significant fraction of light speed.
• v_fuel : velocity of fuel particles as they exit spacecraft (decimal c, light speed). Assume c = 300,000,000 m/s.
• V_ship : velocity increase of spacecraft during one second of flight (m/sec)
• M_ship : mass of spacecraft which can be propelled by momentum of fuel particles (metric Tonnes)
• k: conversion constant. In this case, k= 300.
• ff _day: amount of fuel consumed per day of flight.
• %TOGW/day: Amount of ship's mass needed to convert to energy to propel ship for that day; hence, %TOGW / day = ff_day / M_ship
• R_theo : Theoretical Range. Number of days of propulsion available if we convert entire mass of spaceship into energy. While impractical for spacecraft with payloads and reuseable infrastructure, it might be an option for refueling missions where most mass was fuel.
• R_feas : Feasible Range. Most spaceships have design limits. For simplicity, we'll assume that our notional spacecraft has fuel tanks such that half its mass can be in fuel.
• R_prac : Practical Range. By nature, human designed devices tend to start out with large inefficiencies and continually improve. Furthermore, even perfectly designed propulsion systems will have inherent sources of inefficiency. Onboard energy will be required for many nonpropulsion functions: life support, navigation, communication, auxiliary power for the propulsion system (i.e., accelerator magnets will need a lot of energy even with superconductors). For simplicity, we'll assume that only only half the fuel goes for propulsion. If fuel is 50% of ship's mass, then 25% of total mass can apply toward propulsion.

Example: k * mfuel * vfuel / Vship = Mship
k = 300	mfuel=1.0 gm	vfuel= .1c	Vship= 10 m/s	Mship= 3 mT
c=300,000,000 m/s	ffday =86,400 * mfuel
vfuel	%TOGW / day	Rtheo	Rfeas	Rprac
dec. c	% / day	Days	Days	Days
0.1	2.87%	35	17	9
0.2	1.41%	71	35	18
0.3	0.92%	109	54	27
0.4	0.66%	152	76	38
0.5	0.50%	200	100	50
0.6	0.38%	263	132	66
0.7	0.29%	345	172	86
0.8	0.22%	455	227	114
0.9	0.14%	714	357	179
IV (increments)	ffday/Mship	100%/%TOGW / day	50%/%TOGW / day	25%/%TOGW / day

---

---

---

Ranges and Distances

v_fuel : 10%c to 90%c

---

Maximum Distance: D_max= g * R²_prac/2

---

Middle Distance: D_mid= g * (0.5 * R_prac)²/2

---

Practical Distance: D_prac=2 * D_mid

---

(Range as Practical Distance) D_prac: 9 to 3,986 AUs

m_f-LT= m_fuel/(1-v²_fuel)^1/2

---

k * m_f-LT * v_fuel/ V_ship = M_ship

---

Definitions

• m_fuel : mass of fuel consumed for each second of flight (grams) Remains a constant 1.0 grams for this table.
• m_f-LT : increased mass of fuel after being accelerated to v_fuel, a significant fraction of light speed.
• v_fuel : velocity of fuel particles as they exit spacecraft (decimal c, light speed). Assume c = 300,000,000 m/s.
• V_ship : velocity increase of spacecraft during one second of flight (m/sec)
• M_ship : mass of spacecraft which can be propelled by momentum of fuel particles (metric Tonnes)
• k: conversion constant. In this case, k= 300.
• ff _day: amount of fuel consumed per day of flight.
• %TOGW/day: Amount of ship's mass needed to convert to energy to propel ship for that day; hence, %TOGW / day = ff_day / M_ship
• R_prac : Practical Range. Even perfectly designed propulsion systems have inherent sources of inefficiency. If fuel is 50% of ship's mass, then 25% of total mass can apply toward propulsion. This gives us a practical limit of total time of powered spaceflight (in days).
• g, acceleration due to near Earth gravity, is 9.8 m/sec/sec which we commonly round to 10 m/s². Instead of meters and seconds, let's use roughly equivalent term with AUs and days; this turns out to be 0.5 AU/day².
• D_max : Maximum acheivable distance. To determine distance flown during constant acceleration, use well known formula d = 0.5 g * t². If spaceship accelerates for the whole flight; then time, t, equals practical range, R_prac.
• D_mid : Middle distance. Since constant acceleration will produce some very high speeds, spacecraft must SLOWDOWN!!!! prior to destination. It makes great sense to do this at midway between departure and destination. Using this constraint to determine half of the max practical distance; change time, t, to one half of practical range: R_prac/2.
• D_prac : Practical distance. Since D_mid is half the possible distance from practical range, we can determine total practical distance by doubling D_mid. Thus, a practical flight profile would involve accelerating to midpoint then decelerating to destination.

Example: k * mfuel * vfuel / Vship = Mship
k = 300	mfuel=1.0 gm	vfuel= .1c	Vship= 10 m/s	Mship= 3 mT
c=300,000,000 m/s	ffday = 86,400 * mfuel	g = .5 AU/day2	t = Rprac	t= 0.5 * Rprac
vfuel	%TOGW / day	Rprac	Dmax	Dmid	Dprac
dec. c	% / day	Days	AUs	AUs	AUs
0.1	2.87%	8.71	19	5	9
0.2	1.41%	17.73	79	20	39
0.3	0.92%	27.17	185	46	92
0.4	0.66%	37.88	359	90	179
0.5	0.50%	50.00	625	156	312
0.6	0.38%	65.79	1,082	271	541
0.7	0.29%	86.21	1,858	464	929
0.8	0.22%	113.64	3,228	807	1,614
0.9	0.14%	178.57	7,972	1,993	3,986
IV (increments)	ffday/Mship	25%/%TOGW / day	g * t2 / 2	g * t2 / 2	2 * Dmid

---

---

Ranges and Planets

v_fuel : 10%c to 90%c

(Clearly, as fuel particle's exhaust speed, v_fuel, increases, the spaceship's two way practical range correspondingly increases. While a v_fuel of one tenth light speed, c, might get us to Mars, we need nearly four tenths c to reach Neptune.)

m_f-LT= m_fuel/(1-v²_fuel)^1/2

---

k * m_f-LT * v_fuel/ V_ship = M_ship

---

Definitions

• m_fuel : mass of fuel consumed for each second of flight.
• v_fuel : velocity of fuel particles as they exit spacecraft (decimal c, light speed). Assume c = 300,000,000 m/s.
• m_f-LT.: relativistically increased mass of m_fuel after being accelerated to v_fuel .
• V_ship : velocity increase of spacecraft during one second of flight (m/sec)
• M_ship : mass of spacecraft which can be propelled by momentum of fractional light speed, fuel particles.
• k: conversion constant. In this case, k= 300.
• ff _day = (m_fuel * 86,400): daily quanity of fuel.
• %TOGW/day: Amount of ship's mass needed to convert to energy to propel ship for that day; hence, %TOGW / day = ff_day / M_ship
• R_prac : Practical Range. Even perfectly designed propulsion systems have inherent sources of inefficiency. If fuel is 50% of ship's mass, then 25% of total mass can apply toward propulsion.
• g, acceleration due near Earth gravity, equals 9.8 m/sec/sec which we've rounded to 10 m/s². Instead of meters and seconds, we've opted to use roughly equivalent term using AUs and days; this turns out to be 0.5 AU/day².
• CoHabitat : (Co-Orbiting Habitat) New concept which will require elaboration in another place. Expected points:
• • Definition: Large (O'Neill Habitat-3 size) habitat made of asteroid materials which occupies Terran orbit and either leads or lags Earth by 60^o.
  • PURPOSE: Receive and process asteroidal materials for Earth but mainly other habitats. (Much safer for Earth, to have this done 1 AU away.)
  • To visualize cohabitat's placement in Terran orbit, consider that Earth, Sol, and the habitat will be at the three verticies of an equilateral triangle where all sides = 1 AU.
  • To construct diagram, copy circle which represents Terran orbit about Sol, and center it about Earth. Intersections between Terran orbit about Sol and the Terran centered circle will be the two places 60^o away from Earth.
• OUT OF RANGE :
• d
• d_mid
• t_mid
• t_accel
• t_decel
• t
• t_2-way

Destination			CoHabitat	Mars	Jupiter	Saturn	Uranus	Neptune
tmid=(2*(Dmid)/g)1/2	tmid=SQRT(d/g)	d = Typical Dist. (AUs)	1	2	5	10	20	30
taccel = tmid = tdecel	t = taccel + tdecel	t= 2 * tmid (days)	2.83	4.00	6.32	8.94	12.65	15.49
Dmid = d/2	c=300,000 km/sec AU=150,000,000km	t2-way= 2 * t (days)	5.66	8.00	12.65	17.89	25.30	30.98
vfuel	%TOGW / day	Rprac	Total Two Way %TOGW Needed To Travel
dec. c	% / day	Days	%TOGW	%TOGW	%TOGW	%TOGW	%TOGW	%TOGW
0.1	2.87%	8.71	16.24%	22.96%	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE
0.2	1.41%	17.73	7.98%	11.28%	17.84%	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE
0.3	0.92%	27.17	5.20%	7.36%	11.64%	16.46%	23.27%	OUT OF RANGE
0.4	0.66%	37.88	3.73%	5.28%	8.35%	11.81%	16.70%	20.45%
0.5	0.50%	50.00	2.83%	4.00%	6.32%	8.94%	12.65%	15.49%
0.6	0.38%	65.79	2.15%	3.04%	4.81%	6.80%	9.61%	11.77%
0.7	0.29%	86.21	1.64%	2.32%	3.67%	5.19%	7.34%	8.99%
0.8	0.22%	113.64	1.24%	1.76%	2.78%	3.94%	5.57%	6.82%
0.9	0.14%	178.57	0.79%	1.12%	1.77%	2.50%	3.54%	4.34%
IV (increments)	ffday Mship	25% %TOGW/day	= t2-way* (%TOGW/day) 25% is max practical limit.

---

---

---

Kuiper Belt and Beyond

v_fuel : 10%c to 90%c

---

(As two way travel time, t_2-way, increases to much further distances in our Solar System, we see even more limitations. We now see that we have to investigate increasing fuel particle's exhaust speed, v_fuel, beyond 90% c.)

m_f-LT= m_fuel/(1-v²_fuel)^1/2

---

k * m_f-LT * v_fuel/ V_ship = M_ship

---

Definitions

• m_fuel : mass of fuel consumed for each second of flight.
• v_fuel : velocity of fuel particles as they exit spacecraft (decimal c, light speed). Assume c = 300,000,000 m/s.
• m_f-LT.: relativistically increased mass of m_fuel after being accelerated to v_fuel.
• V_ship : velocity increase of spacecraft during one second of flight (m/sec)
• M_ship : mass of spacecraft which can be propelled by momentum of fractional light speed, fuel particles.
• k: conversion constant. In this case, k= 300.
• ff _day= (m_fuel * 86,400): daily quanity of fuel.
• %TOGW/day: Amount of ship's mass needed to convert to energy to propel ship for that day; hence, %TOGW / day = ff_day / M_ship
• R_prac : Practical Range. Even perfectly designed propulsion systems have inherent sources of inefficiency. If fuel is 50% of ship's mass, then 25% of total mass can apply toward propulsion.
• g, acceleration due near Earth gravity, equals 9.8 m/sec/sec which we've rounded to 10 m/s². Instead of meters and seconds, we've opted to use roughly equivalent term using AUs and days; this turns out to be 0.5 AU/day². .
• CoHabitat :

• OUT OF RANGE : This arbitrary range limit is based on two considerations:

1) Fuel supply is finite and must be a portion of a ship which must devote some mass to infrastructure and payload.

2) Efficiency in converting fuel to propulsion directed energy will always be less then 100% for vessels which need energy for other things (i.e., life support, communication, auxiliary power for propulsion system, etc.)

For convenience, we've chosen fuel to be 50% of ship's mass and efficiency to also be 50%. These optimistic estimates combine for a total of 25% of ship's mass to convert to propulsion energy. We could be much more optimistic and use 90% for each to give us 81% of ship's mass for propulsion. On the other hand, we could be much less and estimate 20% of ship's mass for fuel with a 25% efficiency; this would give us an effective 5% of ship's mass for propulsion. Of course, the possible combinations are numerous and will need actual experimentation for better estimates which will be eventually confirmed with actual operational experience.

• d
• d_mid
• t_mid
• t_accel
• t_decel
• t
• t_2-way

Destination			Kuiper	Belt	and	Beyond	>>>>>	>>>>>
tmid=(2*(Dmid)/g)1/2	tmid=SQRT(d/g)	d = Typical Dist. (AUs)	50	100	150	200	250	300
taccel = tmid = tdecel	t = taccel + tdecel	t= 2 * tmid(days)	20.00	28.28	34.64	40.00	44.72	48.99
Dmid = d/2	c=300,000 km/sec AU=150,000,000km	t2-way= 2 * t (days)	40.00	56.57	69.28	80.00	89.44	97.98
vfuel	%TOGW / day	Rprac	Total Two Way %TOGW Needed To Travel
dec. c	% / day	Days	%TOGW	%TOGW	%TOGW	%TOGW	%TOGW	%TOGW
0.1	2.87%	8.71	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE
0.2	1.41%	17.73	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE
0.3	0.92%	27.17	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE
0.4	0.66%	37.88	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE
0.5	0.50%	50.00	20.00%	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE
0.6	0.38%	65.79	15.20%	21.50%	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE
0.7	0.29%	86.21	11.60%	16.40%	20.09%	23.20%	OUT OF RANGE	OUT OF RANGE
0.8	0.22%	113.64	8.80%	12.45%	15.24%	17.60%	19.68%	21.56%
0.9	0.14%	178.57	5.60%	7.92%	9.70%	11.20%	12.52%	13.72%
IV (increments)	ffday Mship	25% %TOGW/day	= t2-way* (%TOGW/day) 25% is max practical limit.