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Mars Base

Newest Fusion Engine Is Powered On Star Trek Like Dilithium Crystals - Business Insider - 0 views

www.businessinsider.com/ike-dilithium-crystals-2012-10

scibyte66 WarpDrive

shared by Mars Base on 05 Oct 12 - No Cached
  • Researchers at University of Huntsville in Alabama say they are using "Dilithium Crystals" in a new fusion impulse engine that could cut the travel time to Mars down to as little as six weeks, not the six months it takes now
  • "The fusion fuel we're focusing on is deuterium [a stable isotope of hydrogen] and Li6 [a stable isotope of the metal lithium] in a crystal structure.
  • researchers say that this type of engine is what NASA needs to propel human beings outside low-Earth orbit, out to places like Mars and even beyond.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • the military will probably get first dibs
  • projects is only possible from repurposing military nuclear testing equipment, essentially stuff America used to test nuclear weapons
  • , the sponsors of the fusion engine project have ties to military funding—the Aerophysics
  • still a few kinks to work out though
  • issue of harnessing fusion is prominent
  • also the question of turning the power generated by fusion into thrust for an engine
  • craft using the impulse drive would also need to be assembled in space
  • the technology has applications far beyond military or space exploration
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