Defense Intelligence Reference Document Advanced Nuclear Propulsion For Manned Deep Space Missions

Defense Intelligence Agency · 37 pages · text from the file's own layer

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.

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“BEAMS”18 pages

p. 3 …5 Magnetic Entrapment of the Charged Fusion Products and the Stopping of the Proton Beam in…
p. 4 …Ignition With 107-Ampere GeV Proton Beam ......................................... 11 Figure 2. Pure Deuterium Fusion Explosion Ignited With…
p. 5 …microexplosions by intense relativistic electron and ion beams, driven by a high-voltage Marx generator. This…
p. 12 …Magnetic Entrapment of the Charged Fusion Products and the Stopping of the Proton Beam in Dense…
p. 13 …If focused onto one end of a slender, cylindrical deuterium rod, the beam not only can…
p. 15 …But this is different for an intense beam of protons, where the stopping length is determined…
p. 16 …If the GeV -10 7-ampere proton beam passes through background hydrogen plasma with a particle…
p. 17 …Ignition With 107-Ampere GeV Proton Beam (Reference 16) 11 UNCLASSIFIED/ ;<F81il 8FFIIIAk l!Hiili &••kY
p. 19 …If the spacecraft is charged to a positive GeV potential, a gigajoule intense relativistic ion beam…
p. 20 …Pure Deuterium Fusion Explosion Ignited With an Intense Ion Beam. D deuterium rod, h hohlraum, I…
p. 21 …Delivery of a Gev Proton Beam Onto the Deuterium Fusion Explosive The spacecraft is inductively charged…
p. 22 …For a proton energy pulse of 1 gigajoule, the beam power is 3x l0 16 erg…
p. 26 …the generation of gigavolt 10 7-ampere proton beams. Since the realization of pure deuterium beams…
p. 28 …Injection of GeV- 10 MA Proton Beam. Drawn From Super Marx generator made up of magnetically…
p. 30 …beam down to a small diameter. • • • • • I • • • • • • Target = lOm,, = 10 1 = lm,, = l Proton Beam xxxxx…
p. 33 …with an intense relativistic electron or ion beam. • Hypervelocity impact. 27 UNCLASSIFIED/ ,'F811. 8FFUiiliR.k I…
p. 34 …Accordingly, a 2-MJ beam would produce 100 Mb. Instead of an intense relativistic electron beam…
p. 37 …Winterberg, "Can a Laser Beam ignite a Hydrogen Bomb?", United States Atomic Energy Commission, classified January…

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Figure 7 shows the circuit of an ordinary Marx generator, and Figure 8 that of a Super
Marx. An artist's view of a mile-long Super Marx generator, charged up by about 100
ordinary Marx generators and connected to the chamber in which the thermonuclear
target is placed, is shown in Figures 9-11.
Vacuum Vessel
lgrouoded,
Ma" Banh ,n O,ITanh w,th H,gh vo,tage c,μ,,,10,,
Figure 10. Detailed View of a Section of the Super
Marx Generator. Two conventional Marx banks charge
up one coaxial capacitor/transmission line element to 10
MV.
Figure 11. Injection of GeV- 10 MA Proton Beam.
Drawn From Super Marx generator made up of
magnetically insulated coaxial capacitors into chamber
with cylindrical deuterium target.
As shown in Figure 12, the Super Marx is made up of a chain of co-axial capacitors with
a dielectric that has to withstand the potential difference of 107 volts between the inner
and outer conductor.
M
l • • • • • • I• • • • • • • }
B- + ~ + \_,
C
- - - ..--_/
B
X X X X X xix X X X X X X
Figure 12. Showing a Few Elements of the Super Marx Generator
Following their charging up of the Super Marx generator, the Marx generators are
disconnected from the Super Marx. If the capacitors of the Super Marx can hold their
charge long enough, this can be done by mechanical switches.
22
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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.