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This Defense Intelligence Reference Document was prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency's Defense Warning Office and dated 2 March 2010. It is one of a series of advanced technology reports produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications program. It looks at using positrons as fuel for air-breathing turbojets, ramjet-assisted missiles, single-stage reusable vehicles and rockets for a manned Mars mission, and it also covers positron production, costs and storage. It concludes that a first positron-powered flight around the globe could be possible within 10 years.
From the source:Release of 2026-09-18 Incident: 3/2/10, Las Vegas, Nevada. Released with redactions. This document is a Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIRD), a technical reference format used by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to capture baseline knowledge on a specific topic for later analytic use. DIRDs are best understood as reference and synthesis products rather than as original research. It is one of 38 DIRDs produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) between 2009 and 2011. Because AAWSAP’s scope permitted a broad range of supporting topics, not every DIRD in the series directly concerns aerospace systems or future threat assessment. The following summary reflects the DIRD’s scope and framing at the time of writing and should not be read as implying current validation of the concepts discussed. This DIRD examines positrons as a possible fuel for advanced aerospace propulsion, arguing that antimatter offers extraordinary energy density and could, in principle, support applications ranging from long-endurance aircraft and missiles to single-stage launch vehicles, onboard power systems, and crewed Mars missions. At the same time, it makes clear that the concept depends on resolving major unsolved problems in producing positrons in sufficient quantities and storing them safely for long periods, and much of the document’s discussion of flight systems and Mars missions remains conceptual rather than closely tied to demonstrated engineering practice. Its overall conclusion is that positron propulsion is theoretically attractive, but remains highly speculative as a practical technology because its core production and storage requirements remain unsolved.
“Anderson”2 pages
UNCLASSIFIED/;'FOR OFFl@IAL YSE OHLY where k' is characteristic of the electron density for silica strands= 0.0164 nm-ns-1, R is the void radius (nm), r' is the silica strand thickness (0.68 nm), AT is the self annihilation rate, and Aq is the quenching rate for air (0.00427 ns- 1 at 0.1 torr vacuum, typical of a standard rotary pump). To illustrate, without magnetic and electric fields (AT = 1/142 ns = 0.007 ns-1 ) and for R = 20 nm, A= 0.0121 ns-1 , or -r = A-1 = 82.5 ns. This is consistent with our measurements.76 Assuming self-annihilation is suppressed (AT~ 0) by crossed magnetic and electric fields, a high vacuum c10-s torr) is maintained (Aq ~ 0) and R = 20 nm, then A = 8.5 x 10-4 ns-1, or t = 1.2 μs. Proprietary experiments at Positronics Research LLC show that Ps atoms in crossed magnetic and electric fields in silica aerogel with 20-nm voids live up to 10 μs. This is somewhat longer than the predicted lifetime owing to severe radiation damage induced in the silica aerogel by positrons that alters k' from the values quoted above. Measured lifetimes in the present experiments at Positronics Research LLC are within limits set by diffusion to the trap walls. This is consistent with the expectation that Ps atoms "stabilized" in crossed magnetic and electric fields will be "delocalized" and drift freely across magnetic field lines. Future experiments at Positronics Research LLC will use super-dilute media (R = 1,000 nm), large container volumes (10 cm), weak magnetic fields ( < 0.1 Tesla), and electric fields. Substitution of R = 1,000 nm into Equation 2, assuming again a high vacuum and crossed magnetic and electric field suppression of self-annihilation, predicts a lifetime of 61 milliseconds. Assuming the following results are consistent with this prediction, it will be demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that Ps can be stabilized against "self-annihilation" in crossed fields. To ultimately reach lifetimes of months and years required by aerospace propulsion, oscillating electric-gradient-field-confinement forces will be required to keep Ps atoms off the walls of a high-vacuum trap. Ps atoms will be produced by a beam of low-energy positrons intercepting silica aerogel and be stabilized in the trap using crossed magnetic and electric fields. Ps in crossed magnetic and electric fields has an enormous electric dipole moment, and confinement using the classical p•VE force looks very encouraging at this time. Conclusions Conceptual designs and missions for turbojets, turbo-ramjet missiles, and interplanetary rockets powered by positron annihilation have been presented. Positron requirements range from 150 micrograms for a globe-encircling UAV turbojet flight to 100 milligrams for a mission to Mars. A positron-powered SSRV could take off from Earth horizontally, go to LEO, launch to Mars for a 1-year exploration of the Red Planet, and return to LEO and then Earth with a horizontal landing without refueling. Within 10 years, the 150 μg of positrons required for a globe-encircling, nonstop turbojet flight could be made in 6 months at a cost of $69 million. This first-ever antimatter voyage, approximately 90 years after Lindbergh's 1927 Spirit of St. Louis transatlantic flight, would stir the public's imagination and eventually lead to positron powered exploration of the solar system in the 21st century. UNCLASSIFIED/fFOA OFFICiIAk Wlilii 0PU.Y 27
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Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 35 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.