A direct fusion drive for rocket propulsion

Razin, Yosef S.; Pajer, G. A.; Breton, Mary; Ham, Eric; Mueller, Joseph B.; Paluszek, Michael; Glasser, A. H.; Cohen, Samuel A.

doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2014.08.008

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…There are many pre-conceptual point designs for fusion rocket cores, ranging from generic fusion rocket systems studies [11,12], to levitated dipoles [13], to mirror machines [14], to field reversed configurations [15], and magnetized target fusion [8,16]. Even ST tokamaks [17] and laser fusion sources [18] have been suggested (although present incarnations aren't reactors, and even so, are much too massive).…”

Section: Fusion's Unique Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most prior works [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] considering the need for fusion rocket engines have focused on manned exploration of the solar system, the large distances involved, and in particular, for the need to get people to Mars [19] or Jupiter [20] quickly enough so that health risks for crews are minimized during long duration missions. However as numerous events have shown, from the Cretaceous-tertiary extinction to the recent meteorite explosion over Chelyabinsk, the solar system can be a dangerous place.…”

Section: Why Does Our Civilization Need Faster Spacecraft? Planetary mentioning

confidence: 99%

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A New Vision for Fusion Energy Research: Fusion Rocket Engines for Planetary Defense

et al. 2015

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We argue that it is essential for the fusion energy program to identify an imagination-capturing critical mission by developing a unique product which could command the marketplace. We lay out the logic that this product is a fusion rocket engine, to enable a rapid response capable of deflecting an incoming comet, to prevent its impact on the planet Earth, in defense of our population, infrastructure, and civilization. As a side benefit, deep space solar system exploration, with greater speed and orders-of-magnitude greater payload mass would also be possible.The US Department of Energy's magnetic fusion research program, based in its Office of Science, focuses on plasma and fusion science [1] to support the long term goal of environmentally friendly, socially acceptable, and economically viable electricity production from fusion reactors [2]. For several decades the US magnetic fusion program has had to deal with a lack of urgency towards and inconsistent funding for this ambitious goal. In many American circles, fusion isn't even at the table [3] when it comes to discussing future energy production. Is there another, more urgent, unique, and even more important application for fusion? Fusion's Unique ApplicationAs an on-board power source and thruster for fast propulsion in space [4], a fusion reactor would provide unparalleled performance (high specific impulse and high specific power) for a spacecraft. To begin this discussion, we need some rocket terminology. Specific impulse is defined as I sp ¼ v e =g, where g is the usual Earth's gravitational acceleration constant and v e is the rocket propellant's exhaust velocity. The rocket equation, M f /M o = exp (-DV/v e ), allows us to relate the final mass M f of the rocket divided by its initial mass M o , to the change in velocity DV that it is capable of achieving. The rocket requires a power source with an output power P = aM s , where we define a to be the specific power (W/kg), and M s as the mass of the power supply (including the power conditioning, structures, and any waste heat radiators).Today's best chemical rockets produce propellant exhaust velocities (v e ) up to 4.5 km/s. Fission (nuclear thermal) rocket engines [5] could roughly double that, to about 8.5 km/s (\ eV/amu temperature equivalent), constrained by material limits [6]. Electrically driven thrusters [7] are already quite efficient and have higher propellant exhaust velocities (corresponding to *5 eV/ amu) but are usually limited in power resulting in low thrust, and are driven by limited electrical power/energy sources (photovoltaic or radioisotope). Development of high power, high thrust plasma thrusters has not been a

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Section: Fusion's Unique Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Why Does Our Civilization Need Faster Spacecraft? Planetary mentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Vision for Fusion Energy Research: Fusion Rocket Engines for Planetary Defense

et al. 2015

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“…The Direct Fusion Drive is a revolutionary fusion propulsion concept developed at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) [1,25] that would produce both propulsion and electric power from a single, compact fusion reactor [26]. The purpose of PPPL research project is to find solutions for the critical scientific and technological problems related to fusion technology.…”

Section: Direct Fusion Drivementioning

confidence: 99%

Exploration of the solar system and beyond using a thermonuclear fusion drive

Kezerashvili

2021

Preprint

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“…Here, the propellant flows around the engine's core, inside which nuclear fusion reaction occurs and its products heat up the propellant. Then, the hot propellant expands into a magnetic nozzle, producing thrust [9,47].…”

Section: Direct Fusion Drivementioning

confidence: 99%

Exploration of trans-Neptunian objects using the Direct Fusion Drive

Aime,

Gajeri,

Kezerashvili

2020

Preprint

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The Direct Fusion Drive (DFD) is a nuclear fusion engine that will provide thrust and electrical power for any spacecraft. It is a compact engine, based on the D -3 He aneutronic fusion reaction that uses the Princeton field reversed configuration for the plasma confinement and an odd parity rotating magnetic field as heating method to achieve nuclear fusion (Cohen et al., 2019), which will heat the deuterium, also used as propellant.In this work we present possibilities to explore the solar system outer border using the DFD. The objective is to reach some trans-Neptunian object, such as the dwarf planets Makemake, Eris and Haumea in less than 10 years with a payload mass of at least of 1500 kg, so that it would enable all kind of missions, from scientific observation to in-situ operations. For each mission a thrust-coast-thrust profile is considered. For this reason, each mission is divided into 3 phases: i. the spiral trajectory to escape Earth gravity; ii. the interplanetary travel, from the exit of Earth sphere of influence to the end of the coasting phase; iii. maneuvers to rendezvous with the dwarf planet. Propellant mass consumption, initial and final masses, velocities and ∆V for each maneuver are presented. Calculations to reach a vicinity at 125 AU for the study of Sun magnetosphere as well as Eris via flyby are also presented, with interest on the influence of different acceleration phases.Our calculations show that a spacecraft propelled by DFD will open unprecedented possibilities to explore the border of the solar system, in a limited amount of time and with a very high payload to propellant masses ratio.

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A direct fusion drive for rocket propulsion

Cited by 24 publications

References 26 publications

A New Vision for Fusion Energy Research: Fusion Rocket Engines for Planetary Defense

A New Vision for Fusion Energy Research: Fusion Rocket Engines for Planetary Defense

Exploration of the solar system and beyond using a thermonuclear fusion drive

Exploration of trans-Neptunian objects using the Direct Fusion Drive

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