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The Mini-Mag Orion Space Propulsion Systemby pbowersox |
By Stan Tackett
In my previous article
on the history of nuclear pulse propulsion, I outlined three research
programs in nuclear propulsion systems for space travel. The first of
these, Project Orion, was investigated in the 1950s and 1960s as a very
serious and practical option for space travel. Its only limiting factor
was the signing of the International Test Ban Treaty in 1963 that
barred the detonation of nuclear weapons in space.
Fast forward to 2003. Andrews Space & Technology
(AS&T) introduced an innovative propulsion system that could
significantly shorten round trips from Earth to Mars (from two years to
only six months) and enable our spaceships to reach Jupiter within a
year of space travel. The system is called the Miniature Magnetic Orion
(Mini-Mag Orion for short), and is an optimization of the 1958 Orion
interplanetary propulsion concept. The system has the potential to
dramatically affect interplanetary space travel.
The
original Orion project was headed by Ted Taylor from General Atomics,
who together with the famous physicist Freeman Dyson suggested ejecting
nuclear explosives behind a spacecraft in order to propel it forward.
The Mini-Mag system uses a magnetic field to trigger an explosion of
compressed material in the form of small pellets weighing several grams.
This explosion, although significantly weaker than a nuclear explosion,
creates plasma that is directed through a magnetic nozzle to generate
vehicle thrust. The proposed technology enables the production of thrust
at high efficiency, allowing drastic reduction of interplanetary travel
time. According to calculations performed by AS&T, this type of
propulsion system could produce the same thrust as the Space Shuttle
Main Engine, with 50 times more efficiency.
The Mini Mag Orion concept
Due
to the magnetic compression thrust technology, spacecraft could be
smaller and lighter. The spacecraft itself would only need to carry a
relatively small amount of fissionable material as fuel, and would be
able to reach speeds of approximately 10% of the speed of light. Dr.
Dana Andrews, AS&T Chief Technology Officer and Mini-Mag Orion
inventor, and Roger Lenard from the Sandia National Laboratories, have published a paper describing their research into the Mini-Mag Orion (MMO) concept in the Acta Astronautica – Journal of the International Academy of Astronautics.
In
the framework of their research into the subject, the scientists
conducted an experiment that tested the process of compressing a
simulated fissile material in a magnetic field. From a 2003 press release issued by Andrews Space, Inc.:
"The
experiment validated the physical process behind the MMO concept,
substantiating MMO's potential of enabling shorter interplanetary trip
time for near-term space travel," said AS&T Principal Investigator Ralph Ewig. "We
are still far from constructing an actual vehicle, but the present
research will chart the course for human missions to other planets in
the near future. The Mini-Mag Orion system shows significant promise,
and the successful completion of our experiment demonstrated the physics
and validated our approach for a near-term, in-space, advanced
propulsion system," said Dr. Andrews.
In their Acta Astronautica paper,
Dr. Andrews (Andrews Space, Inc.) and Dr. Lenard (Sandia National
Laboratories) describe these technologies and their own recent studies
of the Mini-Mag Orion concept, reducing the size of the vehicle
drastically by using magnetic compression technology. The two
scientists have studied this process using Sandia National Laboratories’
Z-Pinch Machine, the world’s largest operational pulse power device.
Sandia Lab's Z Machine
The
interstellar version of Mini-Mag Orion couples highly efficient pulsed
nuclear propulsion with beamed propulsion; that is, a pellet stream of
fissionable particles beamed toward the spacecraft that continuously
fuels the departing ship. A Mini-Mag Orion vehicle could attain ten
percent of light speed using the combination, according to Andrews and
Lenard. Deceleration of the vehicle at its destination would be
accomplished via a magnetic sail, a large superconducting ring which
uses intercepted charged particles to slow the spacecraft down.
Perhaps
the most important aspect of the system is that it is another
demonstration that the formidable distances of interstellar space can be
conquered, using technologies which we already understand and could
conceivably build within this century.
____________________________
Stan
Tackett holds undergraduate degrees in mathematics and computer
science, and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in computer science
with specializations in uses of artificial intelligence in the nuclear
industry. His interests in nuclear engineering include nuclear
propulsion for space travel, fusion, computational fluid dynamics and
reactor physics. In his spare time he reads Piers Anthony as much as
possible, and enjoys writing and editing crossover science fiction
stories.
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