Re:University of Texas-led team solves a big problem for fus...
by credit_guy on Monday May 12, 2025 @09:28PM
(#43968952)
> I remain skeptical that fusion will ever be a commercially viable energy source. I'd love to be wrong.
It can be for deep space propulsion. The Orion project [1] demonstrated that you can power a spaceship so that it has both huge thrust and huge specific impulse with hydrogen bombs. The main issue with this project is the proliferation concerns. However, if you replace the bombs with pellets that are imploded by lasers, like the NIF experiment did [2], then you could get to the point where you can drive a rocket with non-weaponizable fusion explosions.
It can be for deep space propulsion. The Orion project [1] demonstrated that you can power a spaceship so that it has both huge thrust and huge specific impulse with hydrogen bombs. The main issue with this project is the proliferation concerns. However, if you replace the bombs with pellets that are imploded by lasers, like the NIF experiment did [2], then you could get to the point where you can drive a rocket with non-weaponizable fusion explosions.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propuls...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_ignition#2021_and_2022_...