Documents / Report
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//FOR QFFICJa ■ YEE a••b>/ because He3 is not abundantly available everywhere, it was proposed to "mine" it from Jupiter's atmosphere. Studies have been conducted on spacecraft propulsion with the matter- antimatter annihilation reaction, however, it is an enormous technical challenge to produce antimatter in appreciable quantities. The idea of using nano-gram amounts of antimatter for the ignition of fission-fusion microexplosions appears to have credible potential, but even there the production and storage of nano-gram quantities of antimatter pose serious technical problems (Reference 4 ). We have little reason to expect that new fundamental laws of physics that could lead to a breakthrough in propulsion still await discovery. Very much as America was discovered only once, it is quite possible that all the fundamental laws of physics relevant to propulsion have been discovered, challenging our imagination to find out if they are sufficient to invent propulsion systems that ultimately might bring us to Earthlike planets of nearby solar systems. I conclude this preface with an imaginary talk by Ted Taylor to Freeman Dyson as recorded by the latter's son, George Dyson, in his book Project Orion - The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship (Reference 5), followed by a dream of Ted Taylor's. "Freeman's hope for the Orion had rested on the fact that there seems to be no law of nature forbidding the construction of fission-free bombs," and on the belief that "improvements in the design of the nuclear devices (by reducing the fraction of total yield due to fission) might achieve reduction factors of 102 to 103 • This belief in small, fission-free bombs has largely evaporated." "One exception is Ted (Taylor). He remains convinced that small, clean bombs could propel Orion - but he still fears more than ever that such devices would be irresistible as weapons, until we outgrow the habit of war. There are lots of different routes to that final result of a very clean bomb." "Could you make a one-kiloton explosion in which the fission yield was zero, which is bad news on the proliferation front, but could turn Orion into something quite clean?" "Freeman thinks Ted is wrong - and Ted hopes Freeman is right." I for my part think Freeman is wrong. Many years later, shortly before his death, Ted Taylor reported: "I had a dream last night, about a new form of nuclear weapon, and I am really scared of it." He reported that when he woke up, he wrote down his dream, and it appeared scientifically sound and feasible. What was it? We never will know with certainty, but I have a guess: it is the possibility of chemical superexplosives (explained in the appendix) powerful enough to ignite a thermonuclear bomb. vi UNCLASSIFIED//5O9 AFFICI0I l!SF ONI X
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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.