Posted on 04/06/2013 3:00:31 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Slough and his colleagues are working on a system that shoots ringlets of metal into a specially designed magnetic field. The ringlets collapse around a tiny droplet of deuterium, a hydrogen isotope, compressing it so tightly that it produces a fusion reaction for a few millionths of a second. The reaction should result in a significant energy gain.
"It has gain, that's why we're doing it," Slough said. "It's just that the form the energy takes at the end is hot, magnetized metal plasma. ... The problem in the past was, what would you use it for? Because it kinda blows up."
That's where the magnetic field plays another role: In addition to compressing the metal rings around the deuterium target, the field would channel the spray of plasma out the back of the chamber, at a speed of up to 67,000 mph (30,000 meters per second). If a rocket ship could do that often enough — say, at least once a minute — Slough says you could send a human mission to Mars in one to three months, rather than the eight months it took to send NASA's Curiosity rover.
(Excerpt) Read more at cosmiclog.nbcnews.com ...
Impulse Engines!
There’s poll with the article. Apparently I’m one of the 2% of respondents who think it will never be possible.
Could this be scaled for commercial energy?
I don’t see how, but I’m probably not the right person to ask.
I know some people in DC I’d like to send to Mars, can I get a group discount?
2% ~ ~!
Bookmark
Just my opinion, but I think anyone willing to go to Mars, must be willing to sacrifice their lives, because it would be a suicide mission.
Definitely. The best the initial travellers could hope to do is set up infrastructure for the survival of future travellers.
We have the technology to terra-form Mars, but it will take at least 200-300 years to make any real progress.
http://io9.com/5868115/how-we-will-terraform-mars
For the ‘Rats..... I’d like to “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun.”
So, what happened to Andrea Rossi and his E-cat? Guess all those kids he was going to donate for a cancer cure will have to wait.
I have a dumb question: Is there enough frozen water on Mars that if it were liquid would be enough to fill the Valles Marineris?
If not, then all we could hope for is to have the water (which always seeks the lowest level, to accumulate there?
I avoid the e-cat threads the same way I sued to avoid the Crevo-Devo threads.
He was going to donate kids??
Mars has a lot of water locked up in its ice caps and underground. Perhaps enough to be self-sufficient. The asteroids between Mars and Jupiter could be used to make even more water.
They have the best marbling.
Careful! With that axe, Eugene..
“...send a human mission to Mars in one to three months.’’
Provided they don’t collide with an asteroid. Is this an ion engine?
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