Reply To: Fusion Oil
The Focus Fusion Society › Forums › Dense Plasma Focus (DPF) Science and Applications › DPF for the Icarus Interstellar Spaceship project › Reply To: Fusion Oil
QuantumDotWell since fusion propulsion is one of the only options for interstellar flight and the DPF is about the only near term option, its worth a serious look.
the other options are light sails, antimatter catalyzed fusion, a field reversed configuration( think VASMIR only blown up to cause fusion), and pulsed detonation either with small pellets ignited with lasers or small bombs, the last option is one based on Bussards work either the polywell or the ram-scoop. And from what i have heard only the light sails can be said to be near term.
And of course you would want to test it in the solar system first with a direct flight to mars which should only be 30 days and a gravity spin around the sun but after a few years of tests you would want to try to use it for the real deal and send it to another star.