Defense Intelligence Reference Document Advanced Nuclear Propulsion For Manned Deep Space Missions

Defense Intelligence Agency · 37 pages · text from the file's own layer

This Defense Intelligence Reference Document from the Defense Intelligence Agency, dated 11 March 2010, was produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) Program. It argues that spaceships powered by deuterium thermonuclear reactions could be built with current science and technology. The paper covers ignition by GeV proton beams, magnetic insulation, the Super Marx generator and conjectured chemical superexplosives, and it concludes that such craft could make manned exploration of the entire solar system possible.

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Figures
Figure 1. Ignition With 107-Ampere GeV Proton Beam ......................................... 11
Figure 2. Pure Deuterium Fusion Explosion Ignited With an Intense Ion Beam ... 14
Figure 3. Screening of the Spacecraft ................................................................... 14
Figure 4. Superconducting "Atomic" Spaceship .................................................... 15
Figure 5. Argon Ion Laser Igniter ......................................................................... 17
Figure 6. Autocatalytic Thermonuclear Detonation Using a Soft X-ray ................. 18
Figure 7. Ordinary Marx Generator ....................................................................... 21
Figure 8. Super Marx Generator ........................................................................... 21
Figure 9. Artist's Conception of a 1.5-km-Long Super Marx Generator ................. 21
Figure 10. Detail View of a Section of the Super Marx Generator ......................... 22
Figure 11. Injection of GeV - 10 MA Proton Beam ................................................ 22
Figure 12. Showing a Few Elements of the Super Marx Generator ....................... 22
Figure 13. The Superconducting Toroidal Capacitor and Its Discharge Onto the
Target .................................................................................................. 24
Figure 14. Explosives ........................................................................................... 26
Figure 15. With Increasing Pressure, Electron•Bridges are Formed Between
Shells Inside Shells Melting Into Common Shells ................................ 26
Figure 16. p-d, Pressure ....................................................................................... 29
Figure 17. Inertial Confinement Fast-Ignition Configuration ................................ 30
Tables
Table 1. The Charged Fusion Products of a Detonation in Deuterium: Their
Energy and Velocity .................................................................................. 5
Table 2. Critical Ignition Currents for Thermonuclear Reactions ............................ 8
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