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UW researchers want to power Mars mission with fusion
http://www.seattlepi.com/business/boeing/article/UW-researchers-want-to-power-Mars-mission-with-4410875.php
UW researchers want to power Mars mission with fusion
By AUBREY COHEN, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
Published 10:22 pm, Thursday, April 4, 2013
Researchers at the University of Washington and a Redmond company are working on a fusion-powered rocket that could one day carry people to Mars, the university announced Thursday.
<snip>
The researchers have devised a system in which a powerful magnetic field causes large metal rings to implode around specially developed plasma, compressing it to a fusion state, according to UW. The rings would then merge to form a shell that ignites the fusion for a few microseconds, heating and ionizing the shell. This super-heated, ionized metal would be ejected out of the rocket nozzle at a high velocity, propelling the spacecraft. This process would be repeated every minute or so.
<snip>
The researchers have demonstrated successful lab tests of all portions of the process, according to the UW. Now, the key will be combining each isolated test into a final experiment that produces fusion using this technology, Slough said. He hopes to be ready for a first test at the end of the summer.
NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts Program is funding the project. At a NASA symposium last month, Slough and his team presented their mission analysis for a trip to Mars, along with detailed computer modeling and initial experimental results.
<snip>
A concept image of a spacecraft powered by a fusion-driven rocket. In this image, the crew would be in the forward-most chamber. Solar panels on the sides would collect energy to initiate the process that creates fusion.
Photo: University Of Washington, MSNW
UW researchers want to power Mars mission with fusion
By AUBREY COHEN, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
Published 10:22 pm, Thursday, April 4, 2013
Researchers at the University of Washington and a Redmond company are working on a fusion-powered rocket that could one day carry people to Mars, the university announced Thursday.
<snip>
The researchers have devised a system in which a powerful magnetic field causes large metal rings to implode around specially developed plasma, compressing it to a fusion state, according to UW. The rings would then merge to form a shell that ignites the fusion for a few microseconds, heating and ionizing the shell. This super-heated, ionized metal would be ejected out of the rocket nozzle at a high velocity, propelling the spacecraft. This process would be repeated every minute or so.
<snip>
The researchers have demonstrated successful lab tests of all portions of the process, according to the UW. Now, the key will be combining each isolated test into a final experiment that produces fusion using this technology, Slough said. He hopes to be ready for a first test at the end of the summer.
NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts Program is funding the project. At a NASA symposium last month, Slough and his team presented their mission analysis for a trip to Mars, along with detailed computer modeling and initial experimental results.
<snip>
A concept image of a spacecraft powered by a fusion-driven rocket. In this image, the crew would be in the forward-most chamber. Solar panels on the sides would collect energy to initiate the process that creates fusion.
Photo: University Of Washington, MSNW
