Nuclear fusion appears to be the most promising concept for producing extremely high specific impulse rocket engines. One particular fusion concept which seems to be particularly well suited for fusion propulsion applications is the gasdynamic mirror (GDM). This device would operate at much higher plasma densities and with much larger L/D ratios than previous mirror machines. Several advantages accrue from such a design. First, the high L/D ratio minimizes to a large extent certain magnetic curvature effects which lead to plasma instabilities causing a loss of plasma confinement. Second, the high plasma density will result in the plasma behaving much more like a conventional fluid with a mean free path shorter than the length of the device. This characteristic helps reduce problems associated with “loss cone” microinstabilities. An experimental GDM device is currently being constructed at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center to provide an initial assessment of the feasibility of this type of propulsion system. Initial experiments are expected to commence in the late fall of 2000.
Gasdynamic mirror fusion propulsion experiment
Space Technology and Applications International Forum - 2001 ; 2001 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico
AIP Conference Proceedings ; 552 , 1 ; 886-891
2001-02-02
6 pages
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
GASDYNAMIC MIRROR FUSION PROPULSION EXPERIMENT
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