Fission Propulsion
Spacecraft propulsion using nuclear fission for thermal heating or electrical generation. LANL's 1995 spheromak gas-core fission plasma research is an early example.
Verified Primary Sources
- → LANL FissionPlasmaPropulsion 1995 (p. 3) — 1995 — Los Alamos National Laboratory
- → LANL FissionPlasmaPropulsion 1995 (p. 10) — 1995 — Los Alamos National Laboratory
- → LANL FissionPlasmaPropulsion 1995 (p. 11) — 1995 — Los Alamos National Laboratory
- → LANL FissionPlasmaPropulsion 1995 (p. 12) — 1995 — Los Alamos National Laboratory
- → LANL SNL ZMachine PuICE Waste 2012 (p. 2) — 2012 — Los Alamos National Laboratory
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Timeline Mentions (8)
Project Sherwood established
The U.S. AEC's classified controlled-fusion program begins at LANL and partner labs.
Christofilos begins Astron experiment at LLNL
Greek engineer starts E-layer field reversal concept. Earliest compact torus conception. Presented at 1958 Geneva.
Christofilos Astron experiment at LLNL
The Astron experiment established the field-reversed configuration geometry that prefigured modern FRC research.
LDRD Funding Established at LANL
The Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program is established to fund forefront science relevant to NNSA and DOE missions.
Discovery of FRC Anomalous Stability
Experiments at LANL discover that Field-Reversed Configurations (FRCs) are significantly more stable than predicted by MHD theory.
Astron experiment funding cancelled at LLNL
16-year project ends without achieving field reversal. Compact torus concept disperses to spheromak and FRC research.
Christofilos Astron experiment cancelled at LLNL
17-year Astron project ends. Field reversal concept disperses to LANL (FRC) and LLNL/PPPL (spheromak).
Relaxation Principle Proposed
J.B. Taylor publishes the relaxation principle, establishing that spheromak plasmas minimize magnetic energy while conserving helicity.