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Defense Intelligence Reference Document Positron Aerospace Propulsion

Defense Intelligence Agency · 35 pages · text from the file's own layer

This unclassified Defense Intelligence Reference Document from the Defense Intelligence Agency is dated 2 March 2010. It was produced in FY 2009 under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) Program. The report reviews work on using positrons as aerospace fuel. It covers air-breathing turbojet and ramjet engines, unmanned aircraft, missiles, single-stage reusable vehicles, positron rockets and a crewed Mars mission, along with how positrons could be produced and stored. It concludes that a first positron-powered flight around the globe could be possible within 10 years.

  • p. 6 UNCLASSIFIED/ ;C Antimatter Antimatter appears in the form of fundamental particles that have their sign of…
  • p. 13 UNCLASSIFIED//509 OFFHiI.«1k '181! 8HLY a c Figure 8. BOMARC {left) and Talos {right) Ramjet…
  • p. 15 …I ---- J I I Time ''1500 SC'C Figure 9. Positron SSRV Flight Profile (courtesy Positronics…
  • p. 19 …Synchronous with pulsed Ps injection are (a-c) pulses of LN2 or LNe or LH 2…
  • p. 20 UNCLASSIFIED/ }F81il 8FFll!ltllt ~81!!! SHLY LN2 or Ne (a) (b) (c) H2 P<»itronTrap Pb…
  • p. 24 …and a core temperature near 2,800 °c. The 1993 study examined 15 kilopound-force klbt…
  • p. 25 …b) 0---+++- '~~i):•J"";,,, a 'm,O - =~;_·,--"-~-' ~.~ (c) Figures 16. Mars Trajectories (X-coordinates defined in…
  • p. 27 …9FFI~llk YE'lii 911k>C MSS, and the astronauts descend to the Mars surface on…
  • p. 33 …2 C. D. Anderson, Phys. Rev. 43,491 (1933). 3 O. Chamberlain, E. Segre, C. Wiegand…
  • p. 34 UNCLASSIFIED/ }F81il 8FFlil.l1k WE'lii 811k>C 33 S. K. Borowski et al., "Nuclear Thermal…
  • p. 35 …Smith, "Long-Term Confinement of Dense Positron Plasmas", Final Technical Report, AFRL Contract F08630-02-C…
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Figure 8. BOMARC and Talos Ramjet-Assisted Missiles ........................................... 8
Figure 9. Positron SSRV Flight Profile .................................................................. 10
Figure 10. Artist's Rendition of a Four-Engine Positron SSRV ............................... 11
Figure 11. Solid-Core Positron Rocket Engine With a Hot-Bleed Configuration ..... 12
Figure 12. Fluid Systems ...................................................................................... 15
Figure 13. Modified Sanger Photon Rocket Concept ............................................. 17
Figure 14. Closed Brayton Cycle Using Positron Annihilation ............................... 18
Figure 15. Conceptual 110 Watt Positron Closed Cycle Generator Based on the
NASA Glenn Research Center Stirling Radioisotope Generator (SRG) .. 18
Figure 16. Mars Trajectories (X-Coordinates Defined in Direction of Aries) ......... 20
Figure 17. Spacecrafts Using Positron Engines ..................................................... 21
Figure 18. Proposed Undulator-Based Positron Source for the International
Linear Collider ..................................................................................... 22
Figure 19. Penning Trap ....................................................................................... 24
Figure 20. A Positron Forms Ps ............................................................................ 25
Figure 21. Computer Simulation of Ps Atoms ....................................................... 26
Figure 22. TEM of Silica Aerogel ........................................................................... 26
Tables
Table 1. GLOW for Chemical SSRV .......................................................................... 9
Table 2. GLOW for Positron SSRV ........................................................................... 9
Table 3. Total Positron Requirement for SSRV With a Dry Mass of 60,500 kg ....... 10
Table 4. Comparison of Space Propulsion and Power Systems - Solid Core ......... 13
Table 5. Comparison of Three Positron Propulsion Concepts for Mars Mission ..... 17
Table 6. Positron and Anti proton Expected Costs in the Next 10 Years ................ 23
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