Transportation and Power Requirements for He{sup 3} Mining of the Jovian Planets
- Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences (United States)
- Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)
A bi-modal fusion propulsion system that can be used for transportation to and the mining of He{sup 3} from the Jovian planets is proposed. It consists of the Gasdynamic Mirror (GDM) fusion reactor which is analyzed for utilization as a propulsion device, as well as for use as a surface power system. The fusion reactions in the device are initiated by the heating provided by the fission fragments and the annihilation products produced by the 'at rest' annihilation of antiprotons in uranium U{sup 238} target nuclei. The energetic pions and muons of the antiproton-proton (or neutron) annihilation in the U{sup 238} nucleus can heat a suitable fusion fuel to several keV temperature during their short lifetime, while the remaining heating to ignition is provided by the fission fragments. We examine the use of such a system to travel to Jupiter, for instance, to mine the He{sup 3} which is known to exist to the tune of 350 trillion tons in its atmosphere. Such a rich source of this isotope can readily meet the needs of a fusion-powered global industrial energy consumption estimated at 5400 tons annually, for an indefinite length of time. Although He{sup 3} exists to a much lesser degree in the lunar regolith, the power requirements for its extraction, estimated at 270 GJ per kg, may render its economic viability very much in question. It is suggested that mining the planets at a power requirement 30 times less than its lunar counterpart may be more desirable in spite of the distances involved, if a reasonably rapid transportation system can be devised. In its propulsive mode, the GDM device is shown to be capable of traveling to Jupiter and bringing back the annual world need of He{sup 3} in about six months. Based on such performance, it is quite reasonable to envision a space tanker employing the proposed propulsion system to fly from Earth to the outer planet of choice, spend a period of time in the planet's atmosphere extracting He{sup 3}, or loading it from an extractor plant already in place, and then return to Earth with its cargo. It will also be shown that, in its power mode, the GDM system is capable of producing enough electric power to support colonization, and the amount of antiprotons needed will be well within the projected production rate of the next two decades.
- OSTI ID:
- 21043561
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 969, Issue 1; Conference: Space Technology and Applications International Forum-STAIF 2008: 12. conference on thermophysics applications in microgravity; 1. symposium on space resource utilization; 25. symposium on space nuclear power and propulsion; 6. conference on human/robotic technology and the vision for space exploration; 6. symposium on space colonization; 5. symposium on new frontiers and future concept, Albuquerque, NM (United States), 10-14 Feb 2008; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2844974; (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ANNIHILATION
ANTIPROTONS
ELECTRIC POWER
FISSION FRAGMENTS
HEATING
HELIUM 3
JUPITER PLANET
LOADING
MINING
MUONS
NEUTRONS
PIONS
PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES
POWER SYSTEMS
PROPULSION
PROPULSION SYSTEMS
THERMONUCLEAR FUELS
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
URANIUM 238