tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post762107434098938412..comments2024-03-29T06:34:56.289+00:00Comments on ToughSF: Fusion Highways in SpaceMatter Beamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721504049578296529noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-19943973233206704552023-04-11T20:43:29.288+01:002023-04-11T20:43:29.288+01:00I guess it would have to be actively chilled until...I guess it would have to be actively chilled until release, or be accompanied by a hydrogen heatsink.Matter Beamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16721504049578296529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-19326310989556507862023-04-11T08:13:51.896+01:002023-04-11T08:13:51.896+01:00Tritium decays and puts out about 324 W/kg of beta...Tritium decays and puts out about 324 W/kg of beta-radiation. So it won't stay frozen or liquid for very long.qraalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13436948899560519608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-9377070816750678812023-04-10T10:10:06.523+01:002023-04-10T10:10:06.523+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.qraalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13436948899560519608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-36631649321914103912023-01-07T14:03:50.452+00:002023-01-07T14:03:50.452+00:00I've been pondering ths concept for a while no...I've been pondering ths concept for a while now. I believe I've come up with an improvement that solves the track entry issue as well as the issue of the beamrider carrying target masses. Just use two converging beams that almost collide. The beamrider can steer the projectiles into a collision using on-board equippment. A nice side effect of this is that it decreases the demands on the track laying systems or allows you to double the impact velocity at hand. <br /><br />Additionally, a single track laying mass driver could even lay both tracks if the time and mission demands allow you to make use of orbital mechanics to lay the incoming part of the track.<br /><br />I wonder if this makes the interstellar versions more viable, even if one is only using accelerators in the Kuiper or Oort Regions. If this idea works in the first place. How the post about the interstellar version of this coming along by the way? <br /><br />Keep up the great work, you have really changed the way I see future techology.TheDyingOfLightnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-89722014488818000252022-11-14T01:58:51.079+00:002022-11-14T01:58:51.079+00:00This is such a great concept! But can you elaborat...This is such a great concept! But can you elaborate more on how to keep Deuterium fuel pellets solid in space in the inner solar system? Especially if they contain Tritium that produces heat via radioactive decay.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-66276001285480984622022-06-01T03:51:01.206+01:002022-06-01T03:51:01.206+01:00Consider this:
Solar gravity beyond the Asteroid B...Consider this:<br />Solar gravity beyond the Asteroid Belt is less than 1 mm/s^2 or 0.1 milligee. If you drop something with no orbital velocity, let's say from a statite, it will 'fall' by 0.5 mm after 1 second, 5 cm after 10 seconds and 1.8 meters after 1 minute.<br />This means that if you drop your fusion pellets just a short time before the spaceship riding the Fusion Highway arrives, you can guarantee that they will be intercepted in the right location. <br />Also, you can use more advanced techniques to gain even more control over the pellets over that short period. If they are charged, you can manipulate them with electromagnetic fields or electron beams from a distance. Or you could use light pressure from a laser to gently push them back into position. Matter Beamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16721504049578296529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-13828094809028230402022-05-28T17:39:14.995+01:002022-05-28T17:39:14.995+01:00Then it all makes a lot more sense to me now. If t...Then it all makes a lot more sense to me now. If there are terminals at the end of each highway that collect unused pellets and launch them in a different direction (or back where they came from), the whole system seems a lot more efficient when using such straight-line trajectories. You could (and should) even reclaim some of the kinetic energy that was used to launch the pellets in the first place.<br /><br />The whole time I was reading the blog post I was thinking that if the pellets are following a specific ballistic trajectory, the spaceship would leave that trajectory as it was accelerating due to the pellets. However, if there is an approximately straight path from one terminal to the next, it does seem like it could work as you would only need minute adjustments to stay on the trajectory.<br /><br />The only detail left that I wonder about is "how straight?" For example, the pellets would certainly have to exceed the escape velocity of the Sun, which is ~16.6 km/s. However, even near this velocity, their trajectory would be very curved from the reference frame of any two bodies, so each pellet would likely have to travel many times this velocity to minimize inefficiency from trajectory adjustments in the ship.<br /><br />For example if the pellets are travelling at, say, 100 km/s from the reference frames of the two terminals, a formidable but not insurmountable velocity, then the ship using the highway would need to travel in excess of 200 km/s in the same reference fram, which is very much achievable even for fission drives. The question is, is the initial speed enough such that the trajectory of the pellets is minimally perturbed, allowing the ship to travel at thousands of km/s between the two terminals without having to thrust too far towards the normal/radial direction?Vnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-51132663998627399972021-10-24T06:35:21.214+01:002021-10-24T06:35:21.214+01:00Criticism of the details of this scheme:
https:/...Criticism of the details of this scheme: <br /><br />https://vk.com/wall-147618894_1169<br /><br />You can read it using the google translate service<br />Andrey Gavrilovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04855800722319081986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-55886293470809637552021-08-22T02:34:20.665+01:002021-08-22T02:34:20.665+01:00Thanks for these!Thanks for these!Matter Beamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16721504049578296529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-84369049486913887642021-08-18T07:38:04.284+01:002021-08-18T07:38:04.284+01:00A similar concept is discussed here
1. http://moof...A similar concept is discussed here<br />1. http://moofrnk.com/assets/files/journals/science-prospects/43/science-prospects-4(43)-2013.pdf pp. 56-66<br />2. http://lnfm1.sai.msu.ru/SETI/koi/articles/86.pdf<br />3. http://alpha.sinp.msu.ru/~panov/KinEngine-Panov-2-W.pdf<br />4. http://www.sciteclibrary.ru/texsts/rus/stat/st5860.pdf<br />5. http://lnfm1.sai.msu.ru/SETI/koi/articles/Zotiev-Podvysotsky-2014-04-08.pdf<br />6. http://lnfm1.sai.msu.ru/SETI/koi/articles/Zotiev-2014-03-25.pdf<br />7. http://lnfm1.sai.msu.ru/SETI/koi/media/Podvysockiy.pdf<br />8. http://n-t.ru/tp/ts/kd3.htm<br />9. http://n-t.ru/tp/rz/spukd.htm<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-43449254691251001242021-07-10T14:58:35.500+01:002021-07-10T14:58:35.500+01:00That's right.That's right.Matter Beamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16721504049578296529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-57768274592391546752021-07-10T14:58:24.341+01:002021-07-10T14:58:24.341+01:00Yes, it would work, but only lower velocities coul...Yes, it would work, but only lower velocities could be achieved.Matter Beamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16721504049578296529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-4791040358355622522021-07-09T21:49:21.354+01:002021-07-09T21:49:21.354+01:00The ship converts the kinetic energy of the large ...The ship converts the kinetic energy of the large target masses into ships kinetic energy.<br />So, in kinetic regime it looks like ordinary rocket where target masses are both fuel and propellant. The track masses provides the ignition of the target masses.phdnkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07122069714246670810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-15332705755369802562021-07-06T15:41:54.485+01:002021-07-06T15:41:54.485+01:00Since orion type drives have smaller effective exh...Since orion type drives have smaller effective exhaust veilocities, would this "crumb line of nukes" work there?Rokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01594627296669652306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-90088337254452502652021-06-25T11:53:10.841+01:002021-06-25T11:53:10.841+01:00The power comes from the relative velocity between...The power comes from the relative velocity between the spaceship and the track.<br />In an indirect way, you are extracting that energy with an impact and redirecting it using magnetic fields. This is a bit similar to how the 'Blackbird' wind vehicle functions. Veritasium did a video on it!Matter Beamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16721504049578296529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-29508694455480837572021-06-23T21:36:50.874+01:002021-06-23T21:36:50.874+01:00I think I have a solution for the "Minimum Sa...I think I have a solution for the "Minimum Safe Distance" issue with casaba howitzers: You could hypothetically take a large "recoilless rifle" type device, give its interior surfaces a thick spray-on ablative coating, and use a low yield narrow angle casaba as the propellant charge. Combine this concept with a light gas gun and you could potentially achieve some truly stupendous muzzle velocities even with very heavy projectiles, while also being able to fire "blanks" to utilize the enormous muzzle blast/backblast for point defence. Swap out the light gas gun for an appropriately designed aperture and you now have a reusable bomb pumped laser.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05949208061695933772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-31263966255257796352021-06-20T20:17:45.099+01:002021-06-20T20:17:45.099+01:00Hi, Matterbeam.
Can you please explain how the fus...Hi, Matterbeam.<br />Can you please explain how the fusion highway rider drive works in supercritical "kinetic band" regime ? Especially if the fuel pellets no longer contain any fuel. <br />Where does the power come from in "kinetic band" regime using inert track pellets ?<br />Does "kinetic band" require target pellets to contain thermonuclear fuel instead of track pellets ?<br />How does "kinetic band" regime of the highway compare to Daedalus style fusion drive ?phdnkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07122069714246670810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-76771861301360753732021-05-23T04:33:13.079+01:002021-05-23T04:33:13.079+01:00I haven't expanded on the interstellar aspect ...I haven't expanded on the interstellar aspect as I'm gathering material for a Part 2 to this concept. <br /><br />But you are on the right track: I am thinking of 'staged' Fusion Highways where the pellet track is laid down at relativistic speeds so that an even faster craft can travel on it. It can also be paired with other relativistic propulsion schemes to create a system which has no weaknesses, only strengths. Matter Beamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16721504049578296529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-63482727861113297172021-05-22T06:09:32.365+01:002021-05-22T06:09:32.365+01:00One of several major problems with an interstellar...One of several major problems with an interstellar probe is how to slow down at the end of the trip. This fusion highway concept offers a way around that. <br /><br />Instead of launching just one probe, launch a series of pellet tenders first. The pellets themselves need to be decelerated to below the probe's expected velocity and the design impact speed. A macron accelerator on the tender should be able to provide about 10,000 km/s of delta-V to the pellets through fusion-boosted ablation, which for a 0.2 c cruise velocity means six stages of tender are required for the final set of deceleration pellets (and one less for each earlier set). <br /><br />That in turn means launching 21 tenders to bring 1 probe to rest. That may sound like a huge investment, and it is, but the probe then has an effective mass ratio of 1. As an alternative, if the probe has its own macron-based fusion engine and a mass ratio of about 4 then it should only take three stages of tender (6 in total).<br /><br /> I'm thinking on the order of hundreds of tonnes mass for the probe, enough for multiply-redundant systems, decent comms bandwidth back to Sol and delta-v to maneuver around the system for a bit. There's also quite a bit of shielding required to survive the trip. <br /><br />It would be quite expensive, not to mention roughly 30 years from flight readiness to first data returns. I think in a setting where vehicles are routinely traveling on fusion highways, a mission like this could be done for a reasonable fraction of overall travel costs and much of the propulsion engineering would already be done. Might even be before the end of the century.Chris Wolfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11247630943891521469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-18728225529733620042021-04-25T13:19:23.529+01:002021-04-25T13:19:23.529+01:00Several aspects of this fascinating scheme remind ...Several aspects of this fascinating scheme remind me of the Orion Drive.<br /><br />Given that Projekt Orion created the Casabla Howitzer, because focusing the nuclear explosion was beneficial, could the fusion highway benefit from shaping its nuclear explosions? Or would the difficulties of getting the ignition mass through the structure of a shaped explosive instead of just onto a plain fuel pellet be too great?<br /><br />You mention that one can combine this drive with others to get more flexibility. Am I correct in assuming that one could simply feed this drive with orion pulse units? That would also solve the issue of acceleration highways. Alternatively the acceleration highways could be plain old nukes, circumventing the need for high initial velocities. Especially the pure fusion bombs mentioned earlier in the comments could be very interesting in such a setup. <br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18370897260553818181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-42337376448216481892021-04-14T01:42:03.092+01:002021-04-14T01:42:03.092+01:00The problem with igniting a Casaba Howitzer warhea...The problem with igniting a Casaba Howitzer warhead externally is that you want to deploy it as far as possible from yourself. Crossing that distance with a high velocity projectile is going to add a huge delay to your attack, as well as additional constraints, such as the warhead only being able to fire are targets that are generally aligned with the projectile weapon.<br /><br />As I stated before, a Fusion Highway and related technologies are not easily weaponizable. <br /><br />I agree with all your other points!Matter Beamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16721504049578296529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-50227690632769372102021-04-14T00:11:58.267+01:002021-04-14T00:11:58.267+01:00Thanks for that! I had heard that there was the po...Thanks for that! I had heard that there was the potential for 'clean' nuke that only used chemical explosives and fusion fuel, but I hadn't come across the paper for it.Matter Beamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16721504049578296529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-62787505519562941912021-04-13T02:37:51.486+01:002021-04-13T02:37:51.486+01:00Not to sure if this would be any improvement over ...Not to sure if this would be any improvement over a Casaba howitzer. You would need some sort of device to slam the pellets together at the time and place of your choosing - Matterbeam has a post about impact fusion as an engine - but it would be incredibly large and bulky as the "physics package" - the expanding plasma and X ray radiation needs to be funneled and focused as well, a filler channel seems to be needed to moderate the radiation and then the actual "warhead" part being weaponized is attached to the front. Since you essentially have two honking railguns pointed at each other you would probably have more bang for the buck just shooting the target directly (and the railguns can be used more than once).<br /><br />Alternately, you could have your ship mounted railgun fire a pellet at the "physics package" on the Casaba Howitzer to initiate the fusion reaction, but I suspect that the extra uncertainties of getting a precise strike and clean fusion burn might argue against this. A slight miss could lead to the destruction of the Casaba Howitzer rather than its initiation.<br /><br />As for the amount of traffic needed, that would have to depend largely on the initial cost of the system. The more traffic you have, the lower the price you can charge your customer since you can amortize the cost over a large number of ships. The same logic applies to any sort of similar system - shooting cargo pods from a mass driver, a Kare "sailbeam" or even using lasers to propel lightsails. You probably could charge a premium given the much higher velocities of a fusion driven ship, but the ships themselves would be more expensive as well - a very detailed calculus would be needed to see which system has the better economics.<br /><br />My own personal take on this is that laser sails and mass drivers are the more likely candidates, since they are extrapolations of demonstrated and existing technology, can have multiple uses (the laser can be used to sell energy by beaming it across the Solar system, for example) and seem generally more flexible. YMMV. Thucydideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09828932214842106266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-14839656446787597162021-03-31T01:12:34.739+01:002021-03-31T01:12:34.739+01:00Thanks, Thucydides. I wonder: could this technolog...Thanks, Thucydides. I wonder: could this technology could be used to create a more efficient/powerful Kasaba Howitzer, aka, "Thermonuclear Plasma Cannon" (TPC)"?<br /><br />Also, ISTM that the Fusion Highway would require substantial IP traffic to be economical- how much IP traffic would be required, what types of activity (commercial, military) would require that much/what are the optimal types of traffic to use the FH, etc.?Keith Halperinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09841504651752178493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8150340806781551727.post-24197843609521034972021-03-29T23:21:10.757+01:002021-03-29T23:21:10.757+01:00Not sure if you are aware of this, but I found a p...Not sure if you are aware of this, but I found a paper on impact fusion in "Atomic Rockets":<br /><br />http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/supplement/Impact%20Fusion%20Write-Up.pdfThucydideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09828932214842106266noreply@blogger.com