Gelioraketoplan (1929)

[World B4]

The interplanetary spacecraft Gelioraketoplan Valentin Glushko s graduation project is displayed at the Glushko Energomash Stock Photo - Alamy

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https://www.reddit.com/r/RadRockets/comments/gz9lwh/gelioraketoplan_energiaburan_designer_valentin

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Valentin Glushko's 1929 electric spacecraft design was conceptually far ahead of it's time, I'd love to know the actual details beyond the physical appearance

 

[publiusr]

He had perhaps too much of a bad rap compared to Sergei Pavlovich.

 

[Dilandu]

Valentin Glushko's 1929 electric spacecraft design was conceptually far ahead of it's time, I'd love to know the actual details beyond the physical appearance

A solar powered craft with electrothermal engines, using mercury as propellant. The outer disk of photocells produced electric power to flash-evaporate mercury by spark-gap electrodes & shot mercury vapor from nozzles, creating thrust. The solar panel disk was gimballed around central cabin, so it could be always oriented toward the Sun.

Later iteration of same project proposed the use of ion thrusters instead of electrothermal rockets.