Conceptual designs for antiproton space propulsion systems
Five conceptual designs for antimatter space propulsion systems were compared in terms of their performance characteristics. The systems examined included solid-core liquid-propellant rockets; magnetically confined gaseous-core rockets using liquid or solid propellants; plasma-core rockets; pion rockets, which are driven directly by the mass annihilation products; and ram-augmented rockets, in which antiproton annihilation is used to heat hydrogen collected in interstellar space. It was found that, in general, as the specific impulse of the propulsion system increases, the thrust decreases. The comparison between designs showed that only fusion rockets have the capability to compete in performance with mass annihilation rockets. For very-high-speed interstellar missions, pion rockets, which can have a specific impulse of 20 million sec (although with a thrust-to-engine mass ratios of only 0.01 G) will offer best performance. 36 refs.
- OSTI ID:
- 5649264
- Report Number(s):
- AIAA-Paper--89-2333; CONF-8907118--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Antiproton powered propulsion with magnetically confined plasma engines
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Related Subjects
420200* -- Engineering-- Facilities
Equipment
& Techniques
ANNIHILATION
ANTIBARYONS
ANTIMATTER
ANTINUCLEI
ANTINUCLEONS
ANTIPARTICLES
ANTIPROTONS
BARYONS
BASIC INTERACTIONS
BOSONS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DESIGN
ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERACTIONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
ENGINES
FERMIONS
HADRONS
HEAT ENGINES
HYDROGEN
INTERACTIONS
INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
INTERSTELLAR SPACE
MESONS
NONMETALS
NUCLEI
NUCLEONS
PERFORMANCE
PIONS
PLASMA
PROPELLANTS
PROPULSION SYSTEMS
PSEUDOSCALAR MESONS
RAMJET ENGINES
ROCKET ENGINES
SPACE
SPACE VEHICLES
VEHICLES