New NASA Power Inverter Funding

NASA had a internal survey of next gen power systems for electric flight...
Lithium batts, hydrogen fuel cells, LENR
The results were grouped by location
the west coast gave LENR 5 out of 5
East coast gave the lowest possible score 1 out of 5
Interestingly most all LENR research at NASA is being done in California

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/sensors/PhySen/docs/IPAG12_Presentation.pdf
 
yeah I know, I was there
actually most folks that attended now regret even bringing it up
since everybody and their brother now refers to it, when in reality it was only brought up briefly and dismissed until someone can actually show it working as a power source not just very complicated experimental setups where there isn't enough detail in the report to tell whether the results are from power production or some experimental error

just my 2 cents...
 
Pretty dumb they are spec'ing a 1000V nominal voltage. Electric motors allow for distributed propulsion with many small motors. Each motor will have its own inverter, obviously, but why not also design the plane such that every motor also has its own battery pack. By distributing the pack as well as the motors the wiring run from pack to inverter, and from inverter to motor will be so short there is no sense in using a 1000V bus. The weight advantage would be very tiny considering the total system weight.

By going distributed you also get crazy high redundancy; reduce the risk a battery fire will take down the plane. Also make the plane much safer to work on. I hate flying planes with a single motor and no parachute but they are the cheapest option. Electric planes are going to be a true revolution they require way less maintenance. Ceramic bearings in the motors and you are good for a few million miles. With magnetic bearings the motor will never wear out. Then get rid of the hydraulics and servos and linkages by using morphing materials and your done.

You could still have your single generator (powered by methane), because if that failed you could still land no problem.
 
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