Thruster plumes - expansion in vacuum, contraction in atmosphere.
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Even if it's only a visual effect, having thruster plumes react realistically by expanding in a vacuum and becoming shorter and more conical as ambient pressure increases could add a lot to the look and feel of them:
Additionally, the plumes from the new hydrogen engines should probably be longer and more lively than they are now.
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In a thin atmosphere or vacuum, the "flame" of a rocket engine is very wide, up to 70–80° from the nozzle axis (on both sides), and is almost invisible.
A "nice flame" is the result of atmospheric pressure and gradually disappears as the pressure decreases.
Watch videos of actual rocket launches and flights – for example, Falcon 9. Or watch as Dragom or Soyuz spacecraft approach the ISS, maneuver, and operate their correction rocket engines. You will see almost no flame, just clouds of gas.
Ion engines behave in the same way. But they maintain a nice "flame" even at significantly lower pressures than conventional rocket engines. In a vacuum, however, even their "flame" spreads and loses its brightness.
There is even a method of measuring pressure—more precisely, the density of the upper atmosphere and near-Earth space—based on observing the width of the ion engine's cone.
The proposer's idea itself is correct.
In a thin atmosphere or vacuum, the "flame" of a rocket engine is very wide, up to 70–80° from the nozzle axis (on both sides), and is almost invisible.
A "nice flame" is the result of atmospheric pressure and gradually disappears as the pressure decreases.
Watch videos of actual rocket launches and flights – for example, Falcon 9. Or watch as Dragom or Soyuz spacecraft approach the ISS, maneuver, and operate their correction rocket engines. You will see almost no flame, just clouds of gas.
Ion engines behave in the same way. But they maintain a nice "flame" even at significantly lower pressures than conventional rocket engines. In a vacuum, however, even their "flame" spreads and loses its brightness.
There is even a method of measuring pressure—more precisely, the density of the upper atmosphere and near-Earth space—based on observing the width of the ion engine's cone.
The proposer's idea itself is correct.
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