edbgtr-nasa's site is hard to read but apparently in the article the jet gets its oxygen from the rarified atmosphere of 110,000' altitude. w/ that info, I gathered that such jet would not be able to work in space regardless how fast it travelled even if speeds of one quarter of the speed of light could be reached.
IRstuff- even in space there are traces of gas including oxygen molecules- since speed appears to be the criteria to make this type of jet work in rarified atmosphere, at 1/4 of the speed of light you would think that you could capture enough oxygen to support combustion in space which is probably absurd. So this type of engine in space would no longer be considered a jet but a rocket since the vehicle would need to carry the oxidizer. That's the point I am trying to make in reference to the speed of light.
Now, to take a tottering step forward, dropping all pretence at accuracy, Avogadro's constant is about 10^24, so you are going to run into 10^-11 grams of oxygen per second, to fuel your jet, which'll combine with 10^-12 g of H. So you'll develop a power of about 10^-7 W at 100% efficiency.
I'll leave it to someone else to work out how much power it'll take to push through the excess hydrogen.
chicopee, you're right saying that this craft would not be able to work. But it wasn't intended for this purpose. Still, an air-breathing Mach 10 engine remains a technological marvel.
I'll pass the aerodynamic drag of the vehicle in space, my aerodynamics lectures aren't enough
