Comparison Of Proposed Inertial Confinement Fusion Propulsion Systems For Interstellar Missions

R. J. Halyard. (1997), JBIS, 50, pp.129-236

Refcode: 1997.50.129

Abstract:

At present the only propulsion system which meets the criteria of both high thrust and high exhaust velocity is inertial confinement fusion (ICF). In this propulsion system, thrust is obtained by sequentially detonating small pellets of nuclear fusionable material by lasers or ion beams in an open thrust chamber at the rear of the vehicle. The detonation beams compress the pellet to a density and temperature which will result in fusion of the pellet’s light. atoms into larger atoms, accompanied by a great release of energy. This explosion is the same type, but on a smaller scale, as the explosion of a hydrogen bomb.