Using Fusion To Propel an Interstellar Probe

astroengine writes "We've heard of nuclear pulse propulsion being the ideal way to travel through interstellar space, but what would such a system look like? In the 1970's, the British Interstellar Society's (BIS) Project Daedalus was conceived to fire pellets of fusion fuel out the rear of an interstellar space probe that were ignited using a powerful laser system. The 'pulsed inertial confinement fusion' wouldn't be 'vastly different from a conventional internal combustion engine, where small droplets of gasoline are injected into a combustion chamber and ignited,' says Richard Obousy, Project Leader and Co-Founder of Project Icarus. Now, building on the knowledge of Daedalus, the researchers of Project Icarus have prepared a nifty animation of a fusion pulse propulsion system in operation on the original Daedalus vehicle."

Comments

Why Icarus?

[chihowa]

I really don't get the fascination with naming space projects after a failed attempt at flight. If there's one thing Icarus didn't do, it was "[build] on the knowledge of Daedalus!"

Re:Fusion powered propulsion exists!

[khallow]

And theoretically, you can get to 0.01c with solar sails. The original calculation is a bit screwy since it assumes a solar sail with mass including payload of 1 kg per square kilometer. But it ignores the effects of the Sun's gravity well. Acceleration deep in a gravity well and for which the vehicle escapes the gravity well results in more delta v than acceleration outside of a gravity well. This is called the Oberth effect. Further on down, someone cites a researcher who supposedly came up with a beryllium sail that could achieve 0.03c.

Re:Or fission

[mirix]

I read about this years ago, and also nuclear aircraft more recently. a bit hazy on the rocket theory, but I was rather amazed they actually attempted airborne... the potential for fail is beyond ridiculous... like a B-52 doesn't make a big enough mess with just nuclear weapons, never mind a reactor on board...

Basic "Twilight Zone" problem.

[RevWaldo]

They build a ship that can reach the nearest star in 100 years. Off it goes.

25 years later, they build a ship that can make the journey in 50 years. Off it goes.

74 and a half years later, they build a ship that can make the journey in a day.

Hopefully there's no one in "suspended animation" or "space children" on the first two ships, otherwise they're gonna be pretty pissed off.

This is why getting people to commit to the effort to build an interstellar probe is pretty much a non-starter. We're perfectly happy to wait for the "breakthrough breakthrough" thankyouverymuch.

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