ANTIMATTER-INITIATED MICROFISSION/FUSION: CONCEPT, MISSIONS, AND SYSTEMS STUDIES FOR EXPLORATION OF DEEP SPACE

摘要

The energy released by antimatter annihilation is 180 MJ/μg, greater than that of fusion, fission, and chemical combustion. From a space mission point-of-view, this is exceptional because it implies a propellant source that may have little appreciable mass. Nevertheless, the antiproton (p) mass required for beamed-core annihilation engines for deep space missions may be several kilograms, which exceeds current production capabilities (14 ng/yr) by over ten orders of magnitude. Here, we present two concepts, which are a hybrid of antimatter and fusion technologies. The inclusion of the fusion aspect can reduce requirements to 1-100 μg, which may be obtainable in the near future. Also discussed is a propulsion experiment using only 5 x 10~9 antiprotons, which will validate several antimatter-initiated microfission/fusion objectives.