Documents / Report
This Defense Intelligence Reference Document, dated 1 November 2010, was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency under its Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) Program. It surveys propulsion technologies that include chemical, ion, and nuclear fission rockets, fusion schemes, aneutronic fusion, and antimatter propulsion. It also covers radiation shielding and speculates on research needs over the next 30 years for missions from low Earth orbit to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Alpha Centauri. The document concludes that aneutronic fusion promises to be an important mechanism for future space propulsion.
“Jupiter”5 pages
UNCLASSIFIED//F8A QFFI~II k YE'lii ODIi Y Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................v Chapter 1: Theory ................................................................................................. 1 Rocket Propulsion .............................................................................................. 1 Comparison of Specific Impulse for Various Rocket Designs .............................. 5 Radiation Shielding ............................................................................................ 6 Subatomic Particle Mass, Velocity, and Energy .................................................. 9 Nuclear Fission Rockets ................................................................................... 10 Chapter 2: Nuclear Fusion Rocket Design ............................................................ 13 Classic Nuclear Fusion Schemes ....................................................................... 13 Fusion Initiation Methods ................................................................................. 14 Gravitational Confinement ............................................................................... 16 Magnetic Confinement Fusion (MCF) ................................................................ 16 Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) ................................................................... 16 Muon-Catalyzed Fusion .................................................................................... 17 Cavitation (Bubble) Fusion ............................................................................... 17 Rocket Design Using Fusion Energy ................................................................. 17 Chapter 3: Aneutronic Nuclear Fusion Schemes .................................................. 18 Chapter 4: Antimatter Propulsion ........................................................................ 20 Chapter 5: Aneutronic Fusion Propulsion Projects ............................................... 21 Nuclear Pulse Propulsion ................................................................................. 21 Other Aneutronic Rocket Designs ..................................................................... 22 Commercial Development .................................................................................... 22 Chapter 6: Speculation on Research Needs Over the Next 30 Years ..................... 25 Surface to Low-Earth Orbit (100 miles) ........................................................... 26 LEO to Mars (34 to 249 million miles) .............................................................. 27 ii UNCLASSIFIED//Flilll. lilFFUil,t.k l.lli&i lil'lk>/
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Report, from the dia collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 50 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.