Word: nitrogen
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...apart. The electrodes are connected to a charged, 3,000-volt capacitor, but as long as the gap between them is a high vacuum (the engine works only in the vacuum of space), no spark of electricity can arc across. Every second or so, when a small amount of nitrogen gas is allowed to leak into the gap, a spark flashes, turning the nitrogen into a plasma by ionizing its atoms. The heavy current, which lasts only a few millionths of a second, creates a magnetic field that gives the plasma a powerful "pinch" and sends it squirting in brief...
...exhaust, is the secret of the plasma engine's promise. All space engines must shoot something astern to gain their thrust, and as the exhaust speed rises, the engine becomes more efficient. Republic's plasma engine can run for a year on 1 Ib. of nitrogen...
...Kunen, director of Republic's Plasma Propulsion Laboratory, explained that the plasma pinch engine will get its electricity from solar cells and store it temporarily in a battery. When thrust is needed, the engine can work continuously for months or years, consuming only a small amount of nitrogen...
...Somewhere over the just-awakening revelry of Las Vegas, at 45,000 ft., Walker and -55 Pilot Fitzhugh Fulton began their countdown prior to dropping the X-15 for its flight. Midway in the countdown, Walker interrupted by radio: "We've lost our liquid-nitrogen cooler. My mixing chamber quit." Without the cooler both his special flight suit and his cockpit would turn into bake ovens in the searing, supersonic flight to come. As the mother plane circled slowly, Walker jiggled the mixer handle. "I've worn out my fingers," he complained. Then: "That was touch...
Quick Freeze. A money-saving method of cutting the time for cooling refrigerated trucks from two or three hours down to two or three minutes has been developed by Linde Co. Liquid nitrogen (temperature: 320°F. below zero) is sprayed from pipes in the ceiling of the truck, instantly vaporizes and drives warm air out. The principle has been known for some time, but no workable automatic spraying system had been developed. The system will be in use by next summer...