TY - JOUR
T1 - Fusion propulsion and power for extrasolar exploration
AU - Thomas, Stephanie J.
AU - Paluszek, Michael
AU - Swanson, Charles
AU - Cohen, Samuel
AU - Turyshev, Slava G.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work is supported in part by a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Grant NNX16AK28G, NASA STTRs NNX17CM47P and NNX17CC74P. Ion heating work is being conducted under ARPA-E grant DE-AR0001099.
Funding Information:
This work is supported in part by a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Grant NNX16AK28G, NASA STTRs NNX17CM47P and NNX17CC74P. Ion heating work is being conducted under ARPA-E grant DE-AR0001099. Portions of the work was performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2019 by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). All rights reserved.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Direct Fusion Drive (DFD) is a nuclear fusion engine concept that produces both thrust and electric power. Its range of thrust and specific impulse enable extrasolar exploration, reaching near-interstellar distances of 125 AU in 10 years and the solar gravitational lens at 650 AU in 15 years. Even accounting for development time, data collection at 600 AU could start 15 years earlier than with conventional technology. This paper presents the design of an engine for a mission to reach the gravitational lens, which allows the sun to act as a gravitational lens to image exoplanets in nearby star systems. This mission has unique requirements which can be met with fusion power and propulsion, including maneuvering along the focal line and potentially powering a cluster of independent sensing spacecraft to increase the aperture. This paper includes a discussion of a closed-loop non-thrusting mode, which will extend the duration of the mission.
AB - Direct Fusion Drive (DFD) is a nuclear fusion engine concept that produces both thrust and electric power. Its range of thrust and specific impulse enable extrasolar exploration, reaching near-interstellar distances of 125 AU in 10 years and the solar gravitational lens at 650 AU in 15 years. Even accounting for development time, data collection at 600 AU could start 15 years earlier than with conventional technology. This paper presents the design of an engine for a mission to reach the gravitational lens, which allows the sun to act as a gravitational lens to image exoplanets in nearby star systems. This mission has unique requirements which can be met with fusion power and propulsion, including maneuvering along the focal line and potentially powering a cluster of independent sensing spacecraft to increase the aperture. This paper includes a discussion of a closed-loop non-thrusting mode, which will extend the duration of the mission.
KW - Exoplanet
KW - Fusion propulsion
KW - Gravitational lens
KW - Space power
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M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:85079150412
SN - 0074-1795
VL - 2019-October
JO - Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC
JF - Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC
M1 - IAC-19_C3_5-C4.7_10_x52968
T2 - 70th International Astronautical Congress, IAC 2019
Y2 - 21 October 2019 through 25 October 2019
ER -