[vannrox]

Very Cool.

[freebilly]

Of course, harnessing fusion is no easy task

No fooling....

[KevinDavis]

Looks like we are one ther verge of new golden era of Space Exploration.

[Centurion2000]

Hmmm ... if they use a fission reactor for electrical power for the microwaves and onboard ship systems they wont have to worry too much about the energy return from the rocket itself.

Slightly controlled nuclear fusion might be the way to go with this.

[mhking]

We could use Baghdad as the launch pad for the Orion, if we dust off the plans...

[adx]

If fusion researchers can ever achieve stable, break-even fusion, Emrich believes a full-scale fusion drive - perhaps 100 metres long - could be ready and waiting within two decades.

I'd say multiply both figures in this sentence(length and time) by 10 and you'll get the real deal.

[new cruelty]

'We look for things that make us go' BUMP

[techcor]

Sure fusion. Meanwhile americium 242m actually exists and is 100 times as powerful as plutonium. Plus, reactors could be built to produce it in large quantities with today's technology. Check out a search engine with "Two weeks to Mars" or americium 242m.

[jlogajan]

Nuclear fusion could power NASA spacecraft

Yeah, but not in our lifetimes.

[KellyAdmirer]

Fusion power has never been achieved on earth. NASA is spending real time, money and energy dreaming up fantasies of doing it in space? No wonder we haven't been back to the Moon in 30 years.

[pabianice]

[Mr. Bird]

He wants to use microwaves to heat the plasma to 600 million kelvin

That would most certainly burn the roof of my mouth.

[Light Speed]

Emrich is proposing a bold solution. He wants to use microwaves to heat the plasma to 600 million kelvin, triggering a different kind of fusion reaction that generates not neutrons but charged alpha particles - helium nuclei. These can then be fired from a magnetic nozzle to push the craft along. Emrich has tested the idea with a scaled-down version using an argon plasma. He found that he could get around many of the containment problems by using a long, cylindrical magnetic field with powerful magnets at each end (see graphic). In a fusion drive, the fields at the end could easily be controlled to release the highly energetic alpha particles and propel the craft.

Currently satillites use Boeing Zenon Thrusters...Zenon being the gas used for ignition.

For the past decade myself have operated a "Cryogenic Nitrogen" gas Plasma unit...designed to cut steel and alloy steel..[our machine also does this process underwater].
This Plasma set up has special nozzles and insulators for this application.
Magnetic sheilding sounds deep..but my Plasma has magnetic shielding too.
We had some "Biggy" detonations at the Plasma head..which saw failure due to inconsistancy of metal compostion in the nozzle and sometimes due to the insulators.
Distances of microns can be critical...the energy must continuous flow one direction..if there is any particle stream diversion or leakage during ignition...Kaboom!
Really cool watching the Ion stream cut the steel...after ones eyes adjust to the light[one is wearing protective lensed glasses]..after the white/yellow glow dissapates,you can see this stream of Ions[the Ion stream is blue]...cut the steel like butter...over 8"thick.
As the main article conveys...its just containment...the engineers at NASA will figure it out.

[Thud]

New Scientist has joined Debka and Stratfor in the fantasy department.

[Lee'sGhost]

He predicts his fusion drive would be able to generate 300 times the thrust of any chemical rocket engine and use only a fraction of its fuel mass.

My warp drive engine would be able to get you there in a nanosecond -- and mine will be ready as quickly as his will.

[Intimidator]

They will eventually succeed, just keep plugging along.