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Alice to the the rescue

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Earl Evleth

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Dec 23, 2009, 3:31:06 AM12/23/09
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"A team of scientists from Purdue, Penn State, NASA, and the Air Force have
collaborated on the ALICE (ALuminum-ICE) Project, which makes rocket
propellant out of a frozen mixture of water and nanoscale aluminium powder.
The ultimate goal is for the more environmentally-friendly fuel to be used
on long-distance space missions, but for now it�s excellent for videos of
rockets taking off"


Both aluminum and magnesium will burn "water"
(e.g. Al + H2O => Al2O3 + H2). The aluminium
needs to be in nanosized bits. Mixed correctly
with ice it is the basis of a rocket fuel and
has been tested in flight. It is not as
powerful as current solid state fuels, however.

However, if water is available on Mars or the Moon
the return rocket fuel could be manufactured,
the only transported material would be the added
metal. No mention of the use of magnesium, however.

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