FUSION POWER: The Daedalus spacecraft's spherical tanks contain the fuel pellets for the nuclear fusion engine.
Image: Adrian Mann
Nuclear fusion reactions sparked by beams of antimatter could be propelling ultra-fast spaceships on long journeys before the end of the century, researchers say.
A fusion-powered spacecraft could reach Jupiter within four months, potentially opening up parts of the outer solar system to manned exploration, according to a 2010 NASA report.
A number of hurdles would have to be overcome—particularly in the production and storage of antimatter—to make the technology feasible, but some experts imagine it could be ready to go in a half-century or so.
It's "probably not a 40-year technology, but 50, 60? Quite possible, and something that would have a significant impact on exploration by changing the mass-power-finance calculus when planning," Jason Hay, a senior aerospace technology analyst for consulting firm The Tauri Group, said during an Aug. 29 presentation with NASA's Future In-Space Operations working group. [Future Visions of Human Spaceflight]
The power of fusion
The fuel for such a fusion-driven spaceship would likely consist of many small pellets containing deuterium and tritium—heavy isotopes of hydrogen that harbor one or two neutrons, respectively, in their nuclei. (The common hydrogen atom has no neutrons.)
Inside each pellet, this fuel would be surrounded by another material, perhaps uranium. A beam of antiprotons—the antimatter equivalent of protons, sporting a net electrical charge of minus-1 rather than plus-1—would be directed at the pellets.
When the antiprotons slammed into uranium nuclei, they would annihilate, generating high-energy fission products that ignite fusion reactions in the fuel.
Such reactions—for example, deuterium and tritium nuclei merging to create one helium-4 atom and one neutron—throw off huge amounts of energy that could be harnessed to propel a spacecraft in several different ways.
"The energy from these reactions could be used to heat a propellant or provide thrust through magnetic confinement and a magnetic nozzle," states the 2010 report, called "Technology Frontiers: Breakthrough Capabilities for Space Exploration," which NASA produced with the help of The Tauri Group and other experts.
The basic idea is not new: Project Daedalus, a study conducted by the British Interplanetary Society in the 1970s, proposed using a fusion rocket to power an interstellar spacecraft. Daedalus' fusion reactions would be sparked by electron beams rather than antiproton beams, however.
Not there yet
While antiproton-driven fusion is a promising technology, several obstacles must be overcome to make it feasible, Hay said.
Perhaps the biggest challenge is obtaining enough antiprotons—which can be produced in particle accelerators—and storing them for long enough to make a far-flung space journey feasible.
According to the "Technology Frontiers" report, about 1.16 grams of antiprotons would be required for a trip to Jupiter. That may not sound like much, but production levels are currently measured in the billionths of a gram.
"Antiprotons are extremely expensive; a few grams would cost multi-trillions of dollars," Hay said. "I believe the total production so far since the 1950s is on the order of like 10 nanograms."
But antiproton production is ticking upward at a fairly fast rate, he added. So perhaps the technology could be the next big breakthrough in space propulsion systems — in the year 2060 or so.
"With a steady supply of antiprotons and nuclear fuel, antiproton-driven fusion can provide abundant energy for large space stations, outposts, and extended exploration missions with relatively small power systems," the "Technology Frontiers" report states.
- Gallery: Visions of Interstellar Starship Travel
- Giant Leaps: Top Milestones of Human Spaceflight
- The Top 10 Star Trek Technologies
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33 Comments
Add CommentTo boldly go where no man has gone before...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy o Why can't NASA get a fixed budget.... Why are we paying the Russians to deliver us to our own space station? What is wrong with this government that we can't keep our Hearts and minds on the future of mankind? That is what It boils down to.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis engine would be so revolutionary so important to our future as a species.
Have we lost the ability to look past are own noses....?
Somebody wake up!
I prefer my science fiction straight up. As basic fusion power has been predicted to come to term in the next 30 years for the last several decades, we have another wild speculation.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFusion again, it was a 40 year technology 50 years ago. As long as it is government labs and employees doing the research it will take that long. As soon as their is an economic or other tangible benefit to fusion power that can be done safely, private companies will get the technology developed quickly.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@ Torchlake: Just so you know, it is not "OUR" space station. It is The International Space Station! There are many other significant programs operating right now at NASA, like the Curiosity Rover on Mars as well as private business building rockets and spacecraft that will soon be used. There is much being explored and worked on in the field of space. Who needs the hassle of these little flights to the ISS? I personally think it is great that we cooperate on such a large scale with the Russians. It all helps to build trust and keeps both sides from wanting to blow the other one up with nuclear weapons!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisP.S. "look past ARE own noses..."? should be "OUR"
It's not just this government. Huge aspirations like these were born when we reached the moon - then nobody seemed interested in really following up. Too expensive. Too dangerous. Too far in the future to concern 'my' administration. If the early scientists could see today's humankind they would probably cry in shame.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSame with all the early Science fiction authors: we could have, oh yes, we could, but didn't. And apparently, won't for another 56-60 years. Not at this pace, though...
Just to make it clear to everyone, the project to go to the moon was as much a military program as a science program.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTo boldly go where no man has gone before?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYour trip to the moon vanished in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFree enterprise didn't get you polio vaccines. If you wait for "free enterprise" to do it you will be visiting the bases of Asian and European countries.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe don't really need faster spacecraft. No need to spend hundreds of billion sending people anywhere and Unmanned missions are fine getting where they do whether it be in 6 months or 16 months.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'd prefer we spend the limited billions available on specific mission technolgy than on theoretical propulsion systems that don't add much to our exploration of the solar system.
Unfortunately there's not anywhere to check out with any tecnology other than space telescopes once we do 'the solar swystem thing'. No rush as we aren't going anywhere.
The Fusion Powered Daedalus is a Starship Proposal.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe have the technology to get to Jupiter in 4 months:
http://www.adastrarocket.com/aarc/ToMars
Fission Powerer Plasma Drive
All we need is Political Will then $$$ and it can happen!
This could be a 10 year project.
swf46..there is no such thing as a 'starship' except in fantasyland. Science and technology is about more than political will. It needs to include the physics of matter and energy.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thistorchlake: "Why o Why can't NASA get a fixed budget...."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEasy, a 16 trillion dollar debt and growing at over a trillion a year. We space keeners need a reality check...there is not going to be any funds for a large space initiatives from NASA in the couple of decades to come. No return to the Moon. No manned Mars mission. The cookie jar is full of IOUs. NASA 'might' get involved in some internastionasl effort but that is still way down the road.
geojellrol...of course that is why I directed your attention to adastrarocket.com for the physcis and energy.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFor the mythical"starship'" please see: http://www.icarusinterstellar.org/
(Icarus son of Daedalus as in Greek Mythology)
then google: 100YSS (100 year starship) The US government is seed funding this one!
Antimatter and fusion drives is still firecracker technology. Too much Hollywood pixie dust and way off the mark... just like Star Trek's "moneyless" society. When will the lefteous grow up? Their brains are still frozen between adolescence and sophomore year.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe cookie jar is full of multi-trillion$ Oil Wars fought on the credit card. Oil wars whose only result was expanding terrorism and doubling or tripling the price of Oil. But Big Oil got rich in the process. 100's of $billions more spent protecting Oil producing regions. And more 100's of $billions spent on Renewable Energy SCAMs like Ethanol, Carbon Capture & Storage, Wind & Solar and Hydrogen all of which are just a subsidy to Big Oil/NG & Coal - promoting their bait-and-switch campaign of "let's let our politicians pretend they are doing something - when in truth they are doing ZIP". The cost of Space Exploration & Development in that context is so trivial as to not even be worth mentioning.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is practical to extract Solar anti-matter concentrated in planetary magnetic fields, far cheaper than manufacture on Earth:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswww.centauri-dreams.org/wp-content/Bickford_Phase_II.pdf
DOD slaps Gag order on anti-matter storage & production program:
www.sfgate.com/science/article/Air-Force-pursuing-antimatter-weapons-Program-2689674.php
Practical current tech Magnetic Implosion Fusion for Rocket Engines:
nextbigfuture.com/2012/09/the-fusion-driven-rocket-nuclear.html
And of course PACER Nuclear Fusion has long been practical & well-established for Nuclear Interplanetary spacecraft as well as Earth-to-Orbit spacecraft. Just political, NOT technological or economic restrictions on the use of small ~5 kt fusion pulses to propel space vehicles.
The development of Space Industry is crucial to the future of human civilization and delays in this effort is the most serious impediment on the SUSTAINABILITY of our global economic system and the Earth's environment.
If we really can have this in 50-60yrs(why is that acceptable and not 40?)would we be ready? That's a lot power to weaponize. How big of a crater would 1.16 grams make?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCaptain I’m giving her all she’s got. Anymore and she’ll blow apart.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisScotty, I don’t care what you have to do, but we have to be at Jupiter in 2 hours or were all dead.
Seriously, this is the most well rounded feature on this topic I’ve ever read. As everyone knows, there’s a ton of information all over the internet on this but it’s more confusing than ever. Finally, an article that just tells it like it is.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt’s so refreshing to discover posts like the ones you article on your internet site. Quite useful looking through. I will hold you bookmarked. Many thanks!
So interesting posts,you wrote the headline you gave,and the meaning was so excited.I am sure people who all like them,and better then,good luck!.For more information please visit http://www.safedesign.com
While this technology will surely be useful for inter planetary travel within our solar system the real leap will take place when we are able to develop a Controllable Focus Gravity Drive System which will enable rapid acceleration to near light-speed.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUm, 'travel'? "rapid acceleration to near light-speed"? What good is it to go somewhere when you are rendered flat as a pancake at the start of the trip?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is all so hope inspiring! But in context, no human has gone through the radiation belts since the Apollo missions. The ISS was supposedly to be a platform to assemble and launch manned space craft, yielding a multitude of advantages.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs a layperson, I have yet to hear factual, reasoned statements as to how humans need to be protected in passing these and other radiation belts in space, and what the weight of that protection would be (lead shielding; or just the perforated aluminum in a microwave oven?). Are these radiation belts why the ISS was not used as a travel hub? Is it why no other nation has been able to put humans beyond LEO in 40 years?
Cheers to the two Voyager crafts, set to be the first human made craft to explore the space between stars. We are not at interstellar travel yet, but we took the first un-manned step (albeit a 30+ year effort). I believe they are ion propulsion motors.
Following the Challenger disaster, I believe NASA wants to minimize risk to human life because the consequences of death are no longer viewed as a necessary cost of historic achievement. Ergo pass the shuttle program on to private organizations, and specialize in electronic remote exploration missions unless countered by presidential directive.
Whether we proceed with or without humans on-board, some new type of propulsion is necessary to keep time frames workable. How we would regret if the Voyager ground crew were dismantled after a decade or two because of budget priorities!
I speak out against nuclear energy production all the time, but in space propulsion, fission and fusion make sense. Again, as a layperson, I fail to see why nuclear fission can power submarines, but has not developed into space propulsion.
Also, if you move a space craft at ever increasing rates of speed, the higher the risk that impact with space debris - or even dust, for that matter, will penetrate hull materials. Therefore, the faster the craft, the thicker and heavier the hull must be.
Finally, the DoD has a larger space program than NASA and launches more rockets per year than NASA does, even when you look back to the days of the shuttle program. The government is supposed to fund basic research that is not cost effective to free enterprise. But when the results of that research are funneled into military programs, propagation is stunted for 20 - 50 years. If fusion research promises a rocket engine, who guesses the military will usurp and suppress the technology?
I'm sure we can accomplish this type propulsion in time, but 50 years is probably being very optimistic. In the meantime, VASIMR is nearing reality and will likely bring Mars to as little as six weeks travel time. My understanding is that development of a reliable power source is the final roadblock, so, maybe VASIMR will get us to Mars and the outer planets and we can keep working on antimatter/fusion for the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWithout having too much knowledge on the subject, antimatter in small quantity sounds like something that can rip our planet apart. Like making the Hydrogen bomb look like a joke. Correct me if I am wrong.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou can THANKS George W. Bush for all the invasion and the war he start..that has drain our taxpayer money to the bottom of the well. THANKS BUSH!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDaraD Your thought processes seem to parallel your grammar. US High School Grad, I assume?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thislol, perhaps she/he was thinking of Bush 43 as antimatter, rather than the depletion of revenue for peaceful exploitation over warfare (the latter, I think, was her point). While you may assume DaraD's educational credentials, many who comment here have language hurdles in communicating. My presumption is that English is not his/her native language. In any event, I blame conservatism, too; and Bush is one of the poster-boys. Science, in general, gets better funding in progressive administrations, according to some recent publication.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have invented a novel propulsion engine but it is in no way similar to the ion propulsion. It's an electro-mechanical engine, which means it converts electricity directly into mechanical force instead of using fuel. It's a novel concept and it's hard to explain how it works and creates thrust because some people (as I expected) told me it violates conservation of momentum. In theory yes but in practice I don't think so. I hope I will have a prototype of it fabricated and put to test soon. You may check it out on my website:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswww.hosseinnabipour.ca
-Hossein Nabipoor, inventor of the first practical interstellar propulsion engine
Antihydrogen fusion..........
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have made a discovery in Lightning physics that revealed the very centerpiece of our worlds. Since the beginning of time lightning effect on hydrogen has been producing anti-hydrogen. One form of this is a Gamma ray producer 12 ft. ringed sphere, Relativistic Perturbation (Mantle)
For 4.5 billion years... lightning in earths atmosphere has been producing this self contained sphere utilizing rings of Carbon, Liquid oxygen surrounding a sphere of fused negative energy (anti-hydrogen fusion). Mantle's release comes in the form of Sprites above storms. Mantle produced the atmosphere Ionosphere and anti-protons produces dark matter around earths Ionosphere.
"Mantle's are the missing link in the Earths physiology and the tie between Man Metaphysics and the Dimensional world."
Ronald Patrick Marriott.
Mantle for short produces Gamma rays found by NASA's FERMI satellite during Sprite production. PAMELA satellite found the antiprotons around the Van Allen belt produced by Mantle's discharge energy that follows the magnetic field lines from Earth.
Mantle's discovery will lend efforts to light speed "Warp" travel, wormhole production and dimension technology. The release of charged liquid Oxygen is converting to Air/water for the atmosphere and electrons for the Ionosphere.
It produces force fields and an endless supply of highly charged Liquid Oxygen to repair the earth with. This will supply us with clean energy any place on earth or space.
I am developing team oriented corporate structures to grab the steep developmental curves of high energy physics for my discoveries. These technologies are for advancement of the human race in the areas of Food production, Computer storage/dimensional, Transportation, Infrastructure, Medical, Space Travel and Dimension Building using high energy particle physics from my discoveries with Mantle
Antihydrogen fusion..........
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have made a discovery in Lightning physics that revealed the very centerpiece of our worlds. Since the beginning of time lightning effect on hydrogen has been producing anti-hydrogen. One form of this is a Gamma ray producer 12 ft. ringed sphere, Relativistic Perturbation (Mantle)
For 4.5 billion years... lightning in earths atmosphere has been producing this self contained sphere utilizing rings of Carbon, Liquid oxygen surrounding a sphere of fused negative energy (anti-hydrogen fusion). Mantle's release comes in the form of Sprites above storms. Mantle produced the atmosphere Ionosphere and anti-protons produces dark matter around earths Ionosphere.
"Mantle's are the missing link in the Earths physiology and the tie between Man Metaphysics and the Dimensional world."
Ronald Patrick Marriott.
Mantle for short produces Gamma rays found by NASA's FERMI satellite during Sprite production. PAMELA satellite found the antiprotons around the Van Allen belt produced by Mantle's discharge energy that follows the magnetic field lines from Earth.
Mantle's discovery will lend efforts to light speed "Warp" travel, wormhole production and dimension technology. The release of charged liquid Oxygen is converting to Air/water for the atmosphere and electrons for the Ionosphere.
It produces force fields and an endless supply of highly charged Liquid Oxygen to repair the earth with. This will supply us with clean energy any place on earth or space.
I am developing team oriented corporate structures to grab the steep developmental curves of high energy physics for my discoveries. These technologies are for advancement of the human race in the areas of Food production, Computer storage/dimensional, Transportation, Infrastructure, Medical, Space Travel and Dimension Building using high energy particle physics from my discoveries with Mantle
When traveling at higher energy fields like antimatter fusion... your traveling faster than light speeds. Worm holes can be built this way also... new energy discovery...antihydrogen fusion!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this