ANTIMATTER PROPULSION

ANTIMATTER   PROPULSION

ABSTRACT

Humankind has been exploring space for four decades, and in time our reach has extended throughout the solar system with the use of unmanned probes. Finally, what abut the exploration of our solar systems?

These issues are being addressed by the NASA Advanced Space Transportation Program (ASTP), which is currently investigating new ways to propel a unmanned spacecraft to Alpha Centauri in the span of a human lifetime of 50 years Both tasks suffer the same dilemma: chemical propellants simply will not work. For the first case, chemical propellants lack the energy needed to boost a space probe up to 10% the speed of light. The overall mass of such a booster would be unthinkable. For the latter case, the spacecraft only needs to obtain the velocity necessary to get to Mars within 3-6 months; however, the mass of a manned payload once again places a burden on the size of the booster engine.
Many concepts have been devised. For years, scientists have suggested nuclear fission as an alternative approach for sending a manned spacecraft to Mars. Although the specific impulse (Isp) is still too low for interstellar missions, it does open new avenues near the vicinity of Earth. Unfortunately, environmental issues have all but "grounded" the use of nuclear fission as a propulsion source. Nuclear fusion is cleaner, and it is a more exciting prospect with its higher energy density and specific impulse. However, scientists are still developing such a device that offers beyond break-even energy (more energy output than input), let alone making the same device small enough to be sent into deep space. Last, electric propulsion, as used for Deep Space I, cannot accelerate a spacecraft fast enough for the tasks mentioned above due to its low thrust-to-weight ratio.