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Is it possible for a large enough Ion Drive with enough power to be dangerous to other objects "down wind" of the vehicle, even at long distances (100+km)? As I understand it, ion drives accelerat...
#3: Nominated for promotion
by
Monica Cellio
·
2020-12-20T19:01:45Z (almost 4 years ago)
#2: Post edited
by
Cazadorro
·
2020-07-07T02:56:47Z (over 4 years ago)
Is it possible for a large enough Ion Drive with enough power to be dangerous to other objects "down wind" of the vehicle, even at long distances (100+km)? As I understand it, ion drives accelerate ions at high speeds, and hypothetically this appears as if it would would have dangerous consequences for vehicles downwind. However, this post seems to indicate that while the [long term effects can be bad](https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/5491xz/is_the_exhaust_from_an_ion_thruster_hot_reactive/d7zyybk/), it's not exactly equivalent to being hit with atomic meteorites. Still, in a realistic sci-fi world, it appears as if this would cause issues.- * Assume that engineers have solved the erosion on the drive itself, but no such protection exists outside the drive on other vehicles.
- * No power limits, but in my mind I was thinking more of modern nuclear power plant equivalent power generation, 500MW
- Is it possible for a large enough Ion Drive with enough power to be dangerous to other objects "down wind" of the vehicle, even at long distances (100+km)? As I understand it, [ion drives](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_thruster) accelerate ions at high speeds, and hypothetically this appears as if it would would have dangerous consequences for vehicles downwind. However, this post seems to indicate that while the [long term effects can be bad](https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/5491xz/is_the_exhaust_from_an_ion_thruster_hot_reactive/d7zyybk/), it's not exactly equivalent to being hit with atomic meteorites. Still, in a realistic sci-fi world, it appears as if this would cause issues.
- * Assume that engineers have solved the erosion on the drive itself, but no such protection exists outside the drive on other vehicles.
- * No power limits, but in my mind I was thinking more of modern nuclear power plant equivalent power generation, 500MW
#1: Initial revision
by
Cazadorro
·
2020-07-07T02:56:04Z (over 4 years ago)
Is it possible for a large enough Ion Drive with enough power to be dangerous to other objects "down wind" of the vehicle, even at long distances (100+km)? As I understand it, ion drives accelerate ions at high speeds, and hypothetically this appears as if it would would have dangerous consequences for vehicles downwind. However, this post seems to indicate that while the [long term effects can be bad](https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/5491xz/is_the_exhaust_from_an_ion_thruster_hot_reactive/d7zyybk/), it's not exactly equivalent to being hit with atomic meteorites. Still, in a realistic sci-fi world, it appears as if this would cause issues. * Assume that engineers have solved the erosion on the drive itself, but no such protection exists outside the drive on other vehicles. * No power limits, but in my mind I was thinking more of modern nuclear power plant equivalent power generation, 500MW