Chronicles Of Antimatter: Once Upon A Time, We Still Used Chemical Rockets…(Part 4)
By: Carlos Manuel Jarquin Sanchez
Tags: Elon Musk, Propulsion, Space

Chronicles Of Antimatter: Once Upon A Time, We Still Used Chemical Rockets…(Part 4)

What is the Closest Celestial Body to Earth that humans can colonize & terraform?

Wait for it…

It’s the Moon. Obviously (No Mars Colonization & Terraforming… Yet!).

But the closest planet that humans can colonize without terraforming is Proxima b, an Earth-like planet that’s orbiting the closest star from our own solar system, Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf star. Proxima b is about 1.17 times the mass of Earth, it orbits its star every 11.2 days! Sounds lovely! Let’s back our bags and head over to our new home!

Oh, I almost forgot! Do you have about 6,300 years to spare sitting on a chemical rocket to get to Proxima b?

Hahaha… that’s not going to happen anytime soon, especially with our current rockets! They’re inefficient and-

Hey, Carlos, stop doing that to Lord Musk! Plus, you have no right to say that his rockets are trash!

Okay, let me back up there! Our rockets are good at escaping Earth, but not for leaving the Solar System! But that isn’t sufficient, let’s explain that in more detail!

Hmmm, I’m listening, but still, you have no right to say that!

Liquid Rocket Fuel

Liquid Rocket Fuel is the most common of all the propulsion systems used for rockets, like the ones we see on TV or on the laptop. The NASA Space Shuttle, Falcon 9, Atlas, and The Delta Rocket are just some examples of these rockets that use liquid rocket fuel.

There are two components to the fuel: fuel and an oxidizer. Both these two propellants mix and combine to create a combustion process that happens inside a combustion chamber. These two propellants are regulated by a turbopump that can regulate and increase the fuel pressure, directing the fuel towards the combustion chamber. Finally, the fuel used to combine with liquid oxygen (otherwise known as the oxidizer) can be kerosene (RP-1), liquid hydrogen, or liquid nitrogen, although RP-1 is the most commonly used. They combine in the combustion chamber, leave the rocket nozzle, and you get your liquid rocket fuel!

Thanks for the history lesson on liquid rocket fuel Carlos, but what does this have to do with going to Proxima b for our vacation?

With our current technological capabilities, the fastest man-made object is the Parker Solar Probe that was developed by NASA in 2018 to observe the Sun’s Outer Corona. Unfortunately, it’s maximum speed was 192 km/s, which will still take a few thousand years.

Secondly, the chemicals and components have the right amount of thrust for rockets such as the Space Shuttle and Falcon 9 to escape the restraints of Earth’s gravity. The chemical rockets deliver so much energy in such a short period of time. But you will only have that amount of impulse for about 9 minutes. Once those 9 minutes have passed, you’re out of liquid rocket fuel, and you have to “go with the flow” in outer space. That’s why I meant that chemical rockets are inefficient.

Ohhhh! Now I get it! I forgive you, Carlos! But then, why haven’t we made significant progress in our rockets?

Ion Thrusters

Ion Thrusters use electricity to make ion collisions and produce thrust. It's much more eco-friendly than releasing 336,552 kg of CO2 per rocket launch.

Ions are created inside the thruster by creating a plasma inside the spacecraft, and electrons will bombard neutral atoms; the most common one being Xenon. Xenon is used in ion thrusters because it is the heaviest neutral atom, and therefore it can generate more thrust. When the electron and the Xenon atom collide, an electron is lost from Xenon, and it becomes a positively charged Xenon Ion. The Xenon Ion and an electron are released (to keep the charge at neutral) from the chamber at 90 km/s, while the free electron stays in the chamber to repeat the process. If you want to learn more about Ion Thrusters, I highly recommend reading this article!

But what does it all mean, Carlos? It just does not make sense to me right now.

We use ion thrusters and other propulsion systems that are more efficient once we escape the restraints of Earth’s gravity. The reason why we can't use the ion thrusters to leave the Earth is that the ion propulsion system lacks the thrust that we get from chemical rockets. The propulsion you get from one xenon ion and an electron escaping the chamber is the amount of force you put when lifting a sheet of paper. That is so minuscule, you cant feel it, and because of that, it is measured in millinewtons.

So, we can't go to Proxima Centauri b? 😭

Yes, we can! Remember, this is part of “The Chronicles of Antimatter!”, so there is a solution to this pesky problem of ours! In fact, someone has already been working on this problem! ✨

Carlos, who is that person?

Hmmm. You tell me, reader. 😉

To be Continued…