Deuterium-tritium pulse propulsion with hydrogen as propellant and the entire space-craft as a gigavolt capacitor for ignition

作者：Winterberg F^*

来源：Acta Astronautica, 2013, 89: 126-129.

DOI：10.1016/j.actaastro.2013.04.004

• Fusion micro-bomb propulsion

A deuterium-tritium (DT) nuclear pulse propulsion concept for fast interplanetary transport is proposed utilizing almost all the energy for thrust and without the need for a large radiator: %26lt;br%26gt;1. By letting the thermonuclear micro-explosion take place in the center of a liquid hydrogen sphere with the radius of the sphere large enough to slow down and absorb the neutrons of the DT fusion reaction, heating the hydrogen to a fully ionized plasma at a temperature of similar to 10(5) K. %26lt;br%26gt;2. By using the entire spacecraft as a magnetically insulated gigavolt capacitor, igniting the DT micro-explosion with an intense GeV ion beam discharging the gigavolt capacitor, possible if the space craft has the topology of a torus.

• 出版日期2013-9