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This Defense Intelligence Reference Document from the Defense Intelligence Agency, dated 11 March 2010, was produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) Program. It argues that spaceships powered by deuterium thermonuclear reactions could be built with current science and technology. The paper covers ignition by GeV proton beams, magnetic insulation, the Super Marx generator and conjectured chemical superexplosives, and it concludes that such craft could make manned exploration of the entire solar system possible.
“small beings”13 pages
UNCLASSIFIED//F'iA. 'iFFllil,t.1, '21lii 811LI/ cylinder, compressing it to high densities, while the bulk of the proton beam energy heats and ignites the deuterium cylinder at its end, launching in it a detonation wave. If the GeV -10 7-ampere proton beam passes through background hydrogen plasma with a particle number density n, it induces in the plasma a return current carried by its electrons, where the electrons move in the same direction as the protons. But because the current of the proton beam and the return current of the plasma electrons are in opposite directions, they repel each other. Since the stagnation pressure of the GeV - 107-ampere proton beam is much larger than that of the electron return current, the return current electrons will be repelled from the proton beam toward the surface of the proton beam. The stagnation pressure of a GeV proton beam is (MH proton mass) (19) For n1,-='= 2x J010 cm- 3 , one obtains p1 :::: 3x 101.1 dyn/cm 3 . For the electron return current, one has (m electron mass) (20) With the return current condition nJ:i\, = np'1 , where for GeV protons i\ :::: c, one has v,./c=n,/n,, (21) Taking the value n" =5xl0 22 cm- 3 , valid for uncompressed solid deuterium, one obtains v,. :::: 104 cm/sand hence Pe :::: 5 x 103 dyn/cm 2 . This is negligible against p1, even if ne is 103 times larger, as in highly compressed deuterium. The assumption that the magnetic field of the proton beam is sufficiently strong to entrap the charged fusion products within the deuterium cylinder is therefore well justified. Solution in Between Two Extremes With chemical propulsion, manned space flight to the Moon is barely possible and only with massive multistage rockets. For manned space flight beyond the Moon, nuclear propulsion is indispensible. Nuclear thermal propulsion is really not much better than advanced chemical propulsion. Ion propulsion, using a nuclear reactor to drive an electric generator, has a much higher specific impulse but not enough thrust for short interplanetary transit times needed for manned missions. This leaves propulsion by a chain of fission bombs (or fission-triggered fusion bombs) as the only credible option. There the thrust and specific impulse are comparatively huge, but a comparatively small explosive yield is desirable. Making the yield too small, the bombs become 10 UNCLASSIFIED//F&~ 8FFI&I.«1k WliEii a,.klf
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Report, from the dia collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 37 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.