Thank you for this interesting study. The potential of this technology is incredible. Somewhat related to your proposed mission, NASA developed a fission powered craft to Jupiter in the early 2000s. They completed Phase A and developed perhaps the most mature concept for such a system. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_Icy_Moons_Orbiter
"To be clear, the lasers which initiated the reaction delivered 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of energy to the target. The reaction then produced 3.15 MJ of energy—a net gain. The lasers, however, “draw about 300 MJ” of energy to deliver the 2.05 MJ required to start the process. We’ve still got a long way to go before we get to a practical fusion generator.
Thank you for this interesting study. The potential of this technology is incredible. Somewhat related to your proposed mission, NASA developed a fission powered craft to Jupiter in the early 2000s. They completed Phase A and developed perhaps the most mature concept for such a system. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_Icy_Moons_Orbiter
Made the words "initiated the reaction" a link in the following sentence:
"To be clear, the lasers which initiated the reaction delivered 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of energy to the target."
Added the following:
"To be clear, the lasers which initiated the reaction delivered 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of energy to the target. The reaction then produced 3.15 MJ of energy—a net gain. The lasers, however, “draw about 300 MJ” of energy to deliver the 2.05 MJ required to start the process. We’ve still got a long way to go before we get to a practical fusion generator.
Nevertheless,..."
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