"Ron Natalie" wrote in message
...
Montblack wrote:
("Danny Deger" wrote)
But weight isn't an issue in the micro gravity of space ...
You can not be any more wrong about this. In space craft design, weight
is EVERYTHING.


For getting your payload (one time) up to space, after that weight is
much less of an issue. g


Montblack
You're still wrong. There's no free lunch. Even things in
orbit will eventually fall back to earth unless you keep kicking
them back. The ISS uses thrusters for both keeping the orbit
from degrading and (in coordination with gyroscopes) to hold
the proper orientation. Objects in space still have MASS.
The amount of thruster fuel consumed depends on the mass.

So the question is would a nuclear powered engine, once in space, provide
enough energy to be more efficient than a more conventional power source. I
think the answer might be yes for high earth orbit and as the craft moved
farther away from the earth gravity well it would be even more efficient.