Fusion Propulsion on the horizon?

Popular mechanics has two recent articles on fusion, showing great potential for human technologies. It wasn't that long ago when fusion energy was purely a matter of science fiction.

Fusion technology

NASA Found Another Way Into Nuclear Fusion

NASA has unlocked nuclear fusion on a tiny scale, with a phenomenon called lattice confinement fusion that takes place in the narrow channels between atoms. In the reaction, the common nuclear fuel deuterium gets trapped in the “empty” atomic space in a solid metal. What results is a Goldilocks effect that’s neither supercooled nor superheated, but where atoms reach fusion-level energy.


The Direct Fusion Drive That Could Get Us to Saturn in Just 2 Years

Experts say the right kind of propulsion system could carry spacecraft to Saturn in just two years. The direct fusion drive (DFD), a concept being developed by Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, would make extremely fast work of the nearly billion miles between Earth and Saturn.

Researchers there say the Princeton field reversed configuration-2 (PFRC-2) drive could be the secret to feasible travel within our solar system.


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