Documents / Report
This Defense Intelligence Reference Document, dated 1 November 2010, was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency under its Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) Program. It surveys propulsion technologies that include chemical, ion, and nuclear fission rockets, fusion schemes, aneutronic fusion, and antimatter propulsion. It also covers radiation shielding and speculates on research needs over the next 30 years for missions from low Earth orbit to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Alpha Centauri. The document concludes that aneutronic fusion promises to be an important mechanism for future space propulsion.
“Low Earth orbit”6 pages
UNCLASSIFIED/ ,'l"e" Cl"l"!e1,it tl!!L e11t I space ship, and there is a high probability that neutrons produced by fusion reactors would escape into space without providing much of their energy to a hydrogen propellant. Other fusion reactions using isotopes of helium and lithium will generate only charged particles, such as protons, that travel very short distances before giving up all of their energy as heat. These "aneutronic fusion" reactions take place without neutron production and decrease the need to carry large amounts of radiation shielding material for the crew. The energy from charged particles generated by aneutronic fusion can also be captured in conductive coils and converted directly into electricity. Aneutronic fusion promises to be an important mechanism for future space propulsion, although novel accelerator or laser systems must be researched and developed in order to initiate, sustain, and control the fusion reaction. Another futuristic method of spacecraft propulsion involves the use of antimatter. Antimatter includes antiprotons, antineutrons, and positrons (anti-electrons). Although this propulsion process may be the most efficient, antimatter has some drawbacks. For example, antimatter is generated in only minute quantities at accelerator facilities around the world. Although it has been captured and stored, containment remains a problem. When antimatter combines with matter, it completely annihilates and converts to energy, which then can be converted into heat for a propulsion system. Antimatter reactions provide the greatest amount of energy per unit mass of any potential fuel, but the ability to generate significant quantities of anti hydrogen or similar antimatter fuels at any accelerator facility is very limited. The focus of this study is on aneutronic fusion propulsion. Integral to this study are the topics of fuel, rocket design, and the organizations that research aneutronic fusion development. -----1-,...., Figure 1. Liquid-Fueled Chemical Rocket. vi UNCLASSIFIED/ /P:SR: err1e1111t ~!H! :SHLY
Not linked to a story yet.
Report, from the dia collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 50 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.