00:00The copper alloys used can withstand extreme temperatures and pressures.
00:06Active and regenerative cooling systems are integral components of the design,
00:11helping to withstand these stresses. So you see that many factors are at play here
00:17and have different impacts. But hey, nobody ever said rocket science was easy. Unfortunately,
00:24there are no exact figures on the cost of an RDE yet, but we can venture a few educated guesses.
00:31Fewer moving parts usually mean lower manufacturing costs. NASA is using 3D printing for its RDE
00:40prototypes. This enables highly complex geometries, rapid prototyping, and could drastically reduce
00:47production costs. The copper alloys used GR COP42 and GR COP84 are high performance,
00:57but not exactly easy to work with. There could still be potential for optimization here.
01:02Overall, an RDE could be cheaper per kilogram of thrust than conventional engines,
01:07but until we can say that for sure, quite a few detonation waves will still have to race around
01:13first.
01:17You
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