Technology of the future Sokharev Egor P-123 Translation of terms I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. Spacecraft – космический аппарат Thrust – тяга Satellite - спутник Accelerated – ускоренное thermonuclear engine – термоядерный двигатель Jet propulsion – реактивная тяга Rocket engine – ракетный двигатель SPACE TRAVEL For space travel "directly" using impulse maneuvers, a rocket needs to gain enough speed to travel between points in the solar system. Modern super-heavy chemical rockets have enough speed reserve to travel to the Moon. Spacecraft are sent into deep space not so much by their thrust, and a lot of gravitational maneuvers. ● For example, the Cassini spacecraft accelerated in flight to Saturn using four gravity catapults and braked using the gravity of the satellite Io. The flight took 7 years and such speeds and times are not suitable for human space expansion. The trajectory of NASA's Cassini spacecraft DIRECT FUSION DRIVE The situation can be remedied by changing the physical principle of jet propulsion. And the most promising of them is a thermonuclear engine with magnetic plasma confinement (Direct Fusion Drive, DFD). Pulsar Fusion rocket with DFD engine Pulsar Fusion rocket with DFD engine PHYSICAL PRINCIPLE MAGNETIC MIRRORS Two coils create a field in which charged particles move from the right edge to the left edge and back again, ending up in a certain zone. In principle, this is enough to create a fusion rocket engine. The particles are reflected off the coils, which is why the coils are called magnetic mirrors. THERMONUCLEAR MISSILE Inside the rocket, extra coils will be used around the reactor to precisely curb the chances of the plasma getting out of control. POTENTIAL DRAWBACKS AND BENEFITS BENEFITS This rocket engine can operate both in continuous mode like electric motors, and in pulse mode like chemical rockets, and in pulse mode as in the concept of explosive rockets. The specific impulse of such a unit should be of the order of 10 000 s, while the specific impulse of the most efficient modern chemical rocket engines is in the neighborhood of 450 s. It means that for flights to other planets it will not be necessary to use long gravitational maneuvers, it will be possible to fly directly on rocket thrust. A convenient window of flight to Saturn will open in 2046 and a working fusion rocket is planned by that date. DRAWBACKS All fusion reactors have one major problem: the plasma confinement factor. The hotter the gas, the more active and chaotic it is. And in order for protons to overcome the Coulomb barrier between each other, high velocities and therefore high temperatures are required. Now the best reactors can hold a plasma temperature of about 100 million degrees for about 20 seconds. This is not enough for use as a rocket engine.
