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Re: RE: RE: starship-design: Pellet track




In a message dated 8/19/97 6:51:53 PM, you wrote:

>Kelly,
>
>> Initiate, is different from maintaining.  Lots of magnetic confinement
>> systems have started fusion.  But just about none got out more power then
>> they put in, and few could keep the system runing more then a tiny
fraction
>> of a secound.  Magnetic confinement is considered a NASTY way to try to do
>> this.  Comercial concerns have pretty well written it off as unusable
(much
>> to the anoyence of U.S. government researchers).
>
>Gee, it has been a long time since I thought about this particular concept.
I
>was not aware/did not know the status of stellarator research, I just sort
of 
>half remembered it from years ago. IF I remember correctly, a "stellarator"
was
>sort of a hybrid pinch/confinement/accelerator concept that was never even 
>designed to generate continuous sustained fusion. It was simply a research
tool
>to INITIATE a fusion burn long enough to gain additional information to
design
>more capable reactors.
>
>My thought however, is that a stellerator could be easily improved using 
>TODAY'S technology to produce a continuous reaction just as long as we keep 
>stuffing fuel down the accelerator end. This could be used for a Bussard
ramjet,
>a pellet track, both, whatever...

Hard to say.  It might work.  But with fuel blasting through it at
relatavistic speeds...

All forms of magnetic confinement/compression have been beating themself
blood trying to make it work.  So mucg time and money spent with so little
results makes me cynical.


>An unrelated comment: in a previous discussion on another thread you were 
>discussing heat gain. Someone said something to the effect that we would
have 
>to physically tap the exhaust stream for power and that this would create
>some sort of weak point for excess heat transfer (I know I am paraphrasing
and
>I may even be misremembering). There is absolutely know need for ANY
physical 
>connection to the exhaust stream. It can be tapped for power easily and
simply
>using MHD.

Agreed.


>Lee