Re: starship-design: Idea

[KellySt@aol.com]

In a message dated 6/25/00 1:05:39 AM, bfranchuk@jetnet.ab.ca writes:

>"N. Lindberg" wrote:
>> 
>> Hi all,
>>         I recently read a book about the "X-planes". And read a little
>> about the X-6 project to use a nuclear reactor as the heat source for
>a
>> gas turbine engine.  I know that the original design required too much
>> heavy shielding, but I was wondering about using a small IEC fusion device
>> along the lines of the farnsworth fusor for atmospheric flight.  A fusing
>> plasma would be quite hot, and emit photons along with all kinds of
>> charged particles and neutrons.  A shield structure around the electrodes
>> would convert the radiation into heat, which would have air forced past
>it
>> to keep it cool.  A supply of liquified gas could be kept on board to
>> provide reaction mass for translation to vacuum (SSTO?).  Anyway, this
>is
>> all just a fanciful idea on my part.  I'm most interested in hearing
>> what's wrong with the idea...
>
>Current fusors that I know of are working at a very low energy factor
>on the order of 1E-10 http://www.earthtech.org/experiments.htm
>and http://www.richmond.infi.net/~rhull
>Also the fusor still has to be shielded with the same shielding
>as a fission reactor. 


If you use anti nutronic fuels  D + He  or H + Li6 there is no radiation 
shielding required.  I wrote Bussard about that and he said the steel presure 
vessel would provide all the shielding nessisary, and the efficency would pe 
high enough tonot require much of any cooling system.

Also the papers go into some detail on the power per weight of a IEC fusion 
system being orders of magnitudes better then other designs considered.

Kelly