A unique concept developed by Dr. Fatima Ebrahimi, a physicist at the US Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory could enable future spacecraft to travel to distant planets like Mars much faster than today.
For years, scientists have toyed with the idea of using nuclear propulsion systems for rockets that would be faster than booster rockets today. Not only will it dramatically cut down on travel time but it would be more energy-efficient.
Unfortunately, this would also pose radiation hazards that prevented the concept from taking flight. But Dr. Ebrahimi's concept could revolutionize space flight.
Fusion Rocket Thrusters
The rockets are designed to use magnetic fields that will shoot plasma particles--- electrically charged gas particles-- into the vacuum of space.
According to Newtonian laws, conservation of momentum would propel the rocket forwards at speeds 10x faster than modern devices.
Although current space-proven plasma engines use an electric field to propel spacecraft forward, the new concept would accelerate flight time by using magnetic reconnections.
The process is found throughout the known universe but is most observable on the surface of the sun. When magnetic field lines converse before separating and reconnecting again they produce an enormous burst of energy.
Similar forms of energy are produced inside tokamaks--torus-shaped magnetic confinement devices. Tokamaks are also a candidate for practical nuclear fusion reactors.
Dr. Fatima Ebrahimi, an Iranian-American physicist from PPPL says, "I've been cooking this concept for a while. I had the idea in 2017 thinking about the similarities between car exhausts and the high-velocity exodus particles created by PPL's National Spherical Torus Experiment."
Details of the concept are published in the Journal of Plasma Physics,
Ebrahimi adds, "During its operation, this tokamak produces magnetic bubbles called plasmoids that move at roughly 20 kilometers per second, which seemed to me a lot like thrust."
What is Nuclear Fusion?
The power that drives the stars and the sun is called nuclear fusion. It combines light elements in the form of plasma-- charged state of matter that's made of free electrons and atomic nuclei representing 99% of the known universe--to generate huge amounts of energy.
The reactor functions with the same principles that can be recreated on the planet, it would eventually provide a "virtually inexhaustible supply of power to generate electricity," says PPPL officials.
Ebrahimi's unique concept performs better than existing plasma thrusters in various computer simulations. It has the ability to generate exhaust velocities of hundreds of kilometers per second, 10x faster than other thrusters currently used in space explorations.
The fast velocity at the start of a spacecraft's journey could bring outer planets and further within reach of astronauts.
Ebrahimi says, "long-distance travel takes months or years before the specific impulse of chemic rocket engines is very low. So the craft takes a while to speed up. But if we make thrust using magnetic reconnection, then we could conceivable complete long-distance missions in a shorter span of time."
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