But... there isn't that much text written on such propulsion, available online. The Wiki article is not very helpful. So can anyone help me understand it?
What I gathered is that the gist of it is this: you have a fusion reaction which is somehow spiced up with antimatter. But that leaves me with questions:
Does it involve basically a normal fusion reactor (lets say that within 100 or 200 years such tech would be wide spread) ?
Does it then involve, besides the fuel for the fusion, holding a certain amount of anti-matter within the ship? Enough for repeatedly adding AM to the reaction, during the entire trip?
How hard is it to contain antimatter, and store it for years if necessary? I understand that creating antimatter is insanely power demanding and thus expensive, but that it can be done. But how far along is the containment technology? Are there indications that year long containment could be achievable within 100 or 200 years?
Finally, just how would the power, emitted by the reactor be harnessed and directed so the whole ship can accelerate or decelerate at 1 G, eventually achieving 0.5 speed of light?
What I gathered is that the gist of it is this: you have a fusion reaction which is somehow spiced up with antimatter. But that leaves me with questions:
Does it involve basically a normal fusion reactor (lets say that within 100 or 200 years such tech would be wide spread) ?
Does it then involve, besides the fuel for the fusion, holding a certain amount of anti-matter within the ship? Enough for repeatedly adding AM to the reaction, during the entire trip?
How hard is it to contain antimatter, and store it for years if necessary? I understand that creating antimatter is insanely power demanding and thus expensive, but that it can be done. But how far along is the containment technology? Are there indications that year long containment could be achievable within 100 or 200 years?
Finally, just how would the power, emitted by the reactor be harnessed and directed so the whole ship can accelerate or decelerate at 1 G, eventually achieving 0.5 speed of light?