Fusion driven rocket could cut Mars trip to 30 days, gets stage 2 NASA IAC funding

[Fat Tone]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/10/nasa_fusion_engine_fast_mars_trip/

The proposed Fusion Driven Rocket (FDR) is a 150-ton system that uses magnetism to compress lithium or aluminum metal bands around a deuterium-tritium fuel pellet to initiate fusion. The resultant microsecond reaction forces the propellant mass out at 30 kilometers per second, and would be able to pulse every minute or so and not cause g-force damage to the spacecraft's occupants.

The spent fuel pellet is ejected behind the motor to provide propulsion, and because the whole process is magnetically controlled there's relatively little wear and tear on the engines. A pellet the size of a grain of sand would provide the same propellant as a gallon of conventional rocket fuel.

Prototype:

[Dr Mordrid]

This is actually a combined magnetic and inertial confinement fusion device.

A powerful field implodes 3 metal rings around a D-T plasmoid, much like the core of a nuke, which compresses it enough to fuse. The resulting high mass plasma is magnetically confined and driven out through a magnetic nozzle to produce thrust. Since the goal isn't to extract the plasmas energy for electrical power but just to use it as a reaction mass, "breakover" isn't an issue like in fusion power production.

The target cycle time is acually every 10 seconds. Aluminum is used to test the device, but lighter metals like lithium would be used for the actual power cycle. Specific impulse (Isp) is expected to range between 2,400 and 5,700 secs (chemical rockets peter out at ~400+ sec.)

This one is moving relatively quickly.