Gadzooks, I get the same results... 
from drinking Lone Star Draft--
Yet I do have to see the Doc... 
after a 3-day weekend.
Posted on 07/12/2015 5:15:54 PM PDT by ckilmer
Future aircraft could be powered by lasers and nuclear explosions if Boeing has its way.
The aerospace firm claims a new-type of engine could produce energy-efficient thrust by firing lasers at radioactive material, such as deuterium and tritium.
The technology could mean that planes and spaceships will require only a fraction of the power to operate, according to a recent patent filed by the company.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Tritium has a half life of 12.7 years, deuterium is stable. Tritium is much more difficult to produce in bulk because of its short half life and the fact that we quit making that stuff a while back.
“Tritium is much more difficult to produce in bulk because of its short half life and the fact that we quit making that stuff a while back. “
We have always produced tritium to supply our bomb arsenal. With the dismantling of bombs, tritium can be recycled but we have actually been increasing our production the last decade.
I have problems with an article that calls both Deuterium and Tritium Radioactive. . . only Tritium is radioactive and it is pretty innocuous.
God, their technical writing sucks ass. Sure, the article on it had crappy writing, but sheesh, the patent abstract? It’s like a 1970’s Datsun manual translator wrote it...
Gadzooks, I get the same results... from drinking Lone Star Draft--
Yet I do have to see the Doc... after a 3-day weekend.
Going to pass on getting into a plane propelled by lasers being fired at nuclear fuel cells.
Lockheed-Martin announced a breakthrough fusion power program earlier this year. Google "Lockheed Martin fusion" to read about it.
This announcement by Boeing may be a reaction to that.
wouldn’t be a good idea for stuff in the atmosphere. sounds more plausible for getting around the solar system.
If my casual reading of the fusion T + D = 4He + n + 17.6 MeV reaction is correct, a neutron is also released. Hope they have good shielding for the passengers sitting next to an ongoing neutron bomb.
Boeing has a patent. I wonder what GE, Pratt & Whitney, or Rolls Royce will do in response. They must have known this was coming down the pike.
Lockheed-Martin announced a breakthrough fusion power program earlier this year. Google “Lockheed Martin fusion” to read about it.
This announcement by Boeing may be a reaction to that.
..................
Now that you mention it—there is a tremendous amount of smoke coming from these outfits.
If my casual reading of the fusion T + D = 4He + n + 17.6 MeV reaction is correct, a neutron is also released.
................
Isn’t that neutron what’s supposed to heat the shield that heats the coolant that drives the turbine to produce more electricity for the laser.
Presumably the shield absorbs all the neutrons. who would want to fly in a machine that bombarded them with radioactive neutrons.
Ya know the biggest hydrogen nukes used a blanket of U-238 on the fusion secondary to add a huge kick of fission to the last stage. What they called a "dirty" bomb. Got to make some of the old bomb designers chuckle at this scheme.
Still, think I may pass on flying the fusion airways. Doubt I will live that long anyways.
BFL
And the ‘wall’ that contains that much heat? What’s it made of...
They still are filtered out of ordinary water.
That is where the NIF gets their deuterium and Tritium.
“They still are filtered out of ordinary water.”
I apologize if my post was too technical for you to understand. I tried to make it as simple as I could.
It’s powered by a “Laser”.
” What they called a “dirty” bomb.”
A dirty bomb is a non-nuclear explosive wrapped with dirty fission fragments obtained from a nuclear reactor.
“radioactive neutrons”
Technically, neutrons can be a form of radiation but are not themselves radioactive.
You made a buffoon of yourself.
I laid out the extraction unit at LRL.
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