NASA-Funded Company Wants to Redefine Space Travel With … – Futurism

In BriefA company funded by NASA is proposing the development and useof fusion rockets, which are propelled by the same nuclearprocesses that power stars. Nuclear Powered Rockets

Princeton Satellite Systems, which is funded by NASA, has announced the possibility of fusion reactor rockets which could according to the companys president Michael Paluszekenable new and exciting science missions that are too expensive and difficult to do with todays technology. Such missions could include propelling spaceships towards planets and stars, exploring space deeper than we ever have before, and deflecting asteroids.

Fusion rockets are propelled by the same nuclear processes that power stars. They can produce more energy and do so more efficiently than traditionalchemical propellant or ion drive designs. Princeton Satellite Systems design uses nuclear fusion by heating a mix of deuterium and helium-3 with low-frequency radio waves, then harnessesthe energy produced with magnetic fields. This technique confinesthe resulting plasma in a ring. As theplasma spirals out of the ring, it can be directed towards the blasters.

While this system would prove expensive for bigger projects (around $20 billion), the smaller rocket estimated to be 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in diameter and 4 to 8 meters (13 to 26 feet) long would only cost about$20million per generator; ten times cheaper than the larger model.

Cost aside, there are still two other significantobstacles:first, the system would emit so much radiation that it would preclude the propulsion of any spacecraft with humans aboard, and second, while one generator may only cost the relatively small sum of $20 million, each ship would have to contain multiple generators to ensure both the stability of the plasma, andto make them capable of achieving thespeeds the rockets aspire to.

Space travel has become a trend among the worlds tech elite, with many big names intechnology working to develop canny ways explore the final frontier further,ideallyby sending humans into outer space to guide those expeditions.

Paul Allen recently revealed the worlds largest plane, which aims to take spacecraft to the atmosphere, thereby reducing the amount of energy required to launch spacecraft from Earth.

Elon Musk has had a series of successful test runs for reusable rockets, including the Dragon spacecrafts second landing at the International Space Station. He plans to test the Falcon Heavy rocket, designed totake people to the moon,in the next few months.

Related to one of the fission rockets goals of transporting robots to make observations of never-before seen parts of the galaxy is NASAs mission to touch the sun with its Parker Solar Probe. The probe will investigate solar wind and gather more data on our closest star thanweve ever had before.

Gaining a deeper understanding ofand visiting space has never been closer in our reach.Ideas like these are endlessly exciting and may be a sign that we may beentering the golden age of space travel.

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NASA-Funded Company Wants to Redefine Space Travel With ... - Futurism