starship-design: RE: debate

[wharton@physics.ucla.edu (Ken Wharton)]

Lee writes:

>Perhaps there is some confusion in semantics here.

Ah yes.  I was referring to Confined fusion devices.  H-bombs have surpassed
break-even but are not confined.  No (manmade) confined fusion reaction has
ever produced more energy than it took to create in the first place.

>The antimatter catalyzed concept is just that, an Orion concept with
>extremely small fusion bombs.

The key difference, though, is that the "small fusion bombs" aren't bombs
at all (well, not really...)  They're Confined fusion reactions, and would
(theoretically) allow much more efficienct engines than any concept that
had to rely on unconfined fusion explosions.  An important distinction, I
think, between different propulsion mechanisms.

Ken