Nuclear fusion technology has the potential to revolutionize space travel in terms of both speed and fuel usage. This power source, which fuels the Sun, could cut travel times to Mars in half or reduce a journey to Saturn and its moons from eight years to two.
UK-based rocket motor company Pulsar Fusion has begun producing the largest fusion rocket engine to date.
Nuclear fusion technology is incredibly exciting, but not everyone is convinced it will work.
After all, it requires ultra-high temperatures and pressures to operate.
The approximately 8-meter-long engine is planned to be ignited in 2027.
At the heart of nuclear fusion propulsion is an extremely hot plasma confined within an electromagnetic field, and scientists are still researching how to do this in a stable and secure manner.
James Lambert, CFO of Pulsar Fusion, says, "The challenge is learning how to hold and confine the super-hot plasma within an electromagnetic field."
Machine learning can help make the mapping of this challenging realm a bit easier.
Pulsar Fusion has partnered with Princeton Satellite Systems in the US to use supercomputer algorithms to better predict how plasma will behave and how it can be controlled more precisely.
If scientists can make everything work as intended, the chamber will reach several hundred million degrees, making it hotter than the Sun.
The excess energy released could potentially provide a rocket speed of 804,672 kilometers per hour.
The specific type of engine we are talking about here is Direct Fusion Drive (DFD), where charged particles directly create thrust instead of converting to electricity.
It requires less fuel load than other options and works with atomic isotopes, making it more efficient.
Nuclear fusion holds the promise of not only significantly shortening trips to other planets but also providing nearly limitless, clean energy for life on Earth.
