Steven D. Howe

Antiproton portable traps and medical applications

Several medical applications utilizing antiprotons stored and transported in a portable Penning trap are considered. These include production of radioisotopes for PET, radiography and radiotherapy. Specifications of a portable antiproton trap suitable for this work are discussed, and progress on the development of such a trap is reported.

Antimatter Driven Sail for Deep Space Missions

The concept of the Antimatter Driven Sail (ADS) has been examined in three major areas: Mission Architecture, Subsystem Technologies, and a Technology Roadmap. The Mission Architecture effort has focused on developing an integrated systems model to evaluate the performance of the entire spacecraft for a mission. The Subsystem Technologies investigation examined 1) the fundamental reactions between the antiprotons and the sail material and the subsequent momentum transfer, 2) a concept for storing antihydrogen at high densities, and 3) an entirely new concept for electrical power production. The new electrical‐power concept may have applicability to nearer‐term space missions as a power supply if the availability of antiprotons becomes common. In developing the Technology Roadmap, we examined the potential 1) for using recent developments in antiproton storage and antihydrogen formation to create a path to ultra‐high density antihydrogen storage, and 2) for increasing production of antiprotons by modifying the existing Fermilab facility. Our system analysis indicates that a 10 kg instrument pay load could be sent to 250 AU in 10 years using 30 milligrams of antihydrogen. This amount of antimatter is clearly within the production potential of the US within the next 40 years using currently accepted accelerator technologies. Major aspects of the architecture remain to be investigated but the first‐cut assessment of the mission profile, the subsystem technologies, and the technology development path have all been identified. The antimatter driven sail may in‐fact allow humanity to consider sending probes to the stars.

SAFE Testing Nuclear Rockets Economically

Several studies over the past few decades have recognized the need for advanced propulsion to explore the solar system. As early as the 1960s, Werner Von Braun and others recognized the need for a nuclear rocket for sending humans to Mars. The great distances, the intense radiation levels, and the physiological response to zero‐gravity all supported the concept of using a nuclear rocket to decrease mission time. These same needs have been recognized in later studies, especially in the Space Exploration Initiative in 1989. One of the key questions that has arisen in later studies, however, is the ability to test a nuclear rocket engine in the current societal environment. Unlike the Rover/NERVA programs in the 1960s, the rocket exhaust can no longer be vented to the open atmosphere. As a consequence, previous studies have examined the feasibility of building a large‐scale version of the Nuclear Furnace Scrubber that was demonstrated in 1971. We have investigated an alternative that would deposit the rocket exhaust along with any entrained fission products directly into the ground. The Subsurface Active Filtering of Exhaust, or SAFE, concept would allow variable sized engines to be tested for long times at a modest expense. A system overview, results of preliminary calculations, and cost estimates of proof of concept demonstrations are presented. The results indicate that a nuclear rocket could be tested at the Nevada Test Site for under

AIMStar: Antimatter initiated microfusion for pre-cursor interstellar missions

20 M.

High energy-density propulsion—reducing the risk to humans in planetary exploration

We address the challenge of delivering a scientific payload to 10,000 A.U. in 50 years. This mission may be viewed as a pre-cursor to later missions to Alpha Centauri and beyond. We consider a small, nuclear fusion engine sparked by clouds of antiprotons, and describe the principle and operation of the engine and mission parameters. An R&D program currently in progress is discussed.

Development of High-Capacity Antimatter Storage

Abstract The potential benefits to humankind of space exploration are tremendous. Space is not only the final frontier but is also the next marketplace. The orbital space above Earth offers tremendous opportunities for both strategic assets and commercial development. The critical obstacle retarding the use of the space around the Earth is the lack of low cost access to orbit. Further out, the next giant leap for mankind will be the human exploration of Mars. Almost certainly within the next 30 years, a human crew will brave the isolation, the radiation, and the lack of gravity to walk on and explore the Red planet. Both of these missions will change the outlook and perspective of every human being on the planet. However, these missions are expensive and extremely difficult. Chemical propulsion has demonstrated an inability to achieve orbit cheaply and is a very high-risk option to accomplish the Mars mission. An alternative solution is to develop a high performance propulsion system. Nuclear propulsion has the potential to be such a system. The question will be whether humanity is willing to take on the challenge.

Deceleration of Antiprotons in Support of Antiproton Storage/Utilization Research

Space is vast. Over the next few decades, humanity will strive to send probes farther and farther into space to establish long baselines for interferometry, to visit the Kuiper Belt, to identify the heliopause, or to map the Oort cloud. In order to solve many of the mysteries of the universe or to explore the solar system and beyond, one single technology must be developed—high performance propulsion. In essence, future missions to deep space will require specific impulses between 50,000 and 200,000 seconds and energy densities greater than 1014 j/kg in order to accomplish the mission within the career lifetime of an individual, 40 years. Only two technologies available to mankind offer such performance—fusion and antimatter. Currently envisioned fusion systems are too massive. Alternatively, because of the high energy density, antimatter powered systems may be relatively compact. The single key technology that is required to enable the revolutionary concept of antimatter propulsion is safe, reliable, hig...

Micro Asteroid Prospector Powered by Energetic Radioisotopes: MAPPER

Antimatter has the highest energy density known to mankind. Many concepts have been studied that use antimatter for propulsion. All of these concepts require the development of high density storage. Hbar Technologies, under contract with the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, has undertaken the first step toward development of high density storage. Demonstration of the ability to store antiprotons in a Penning Trap provides the technology to pursue research in alternative storage methods that may lead to eventually to high density concepts. Hbar Technologies has undertaken research activity on the detailed design and operations required to decelerate and redirect the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) antiproton beam to lay the groundwork for a source of low energy antiprotons. We have performed a detailed assessment of an antiproton deceleration scheme using the FNAL Main Injector, outlining the requirements to significantly and efficiently lower the energy of antiprotons. This task shall requi...

Nuclear data needs for the space exploration initiative

The solar system is an almost limitless store‐house of resources. As humanity begins to expand into space, we can greatly reduce the cost and effort of exploration by using the resources from other orbiting bodies. The ability to extract volatile gases or structural materials from moons and other planetesimals will allow smaller ships, faster missions, and lower costs. Part of the problem, however, will be to locate the desired deposits from the billions of square miles of surface area present in the solar system. The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter is perhaps the most valuable and most overlooked of resource deposits in the solar system. The total mass of the Belt is estimated to be 1/1000 the mass of the Earth. The ultimate goal of this project is to identify and investigate an exploration architecture that would allow a hundreds of ultra‐light‐weight instrument packages to be sent to the Asteroid Belt. We have performed a preliminary analysis that has characterized the bodies in the Asteroid Bel...

Container for transporting antiprotons and reaction trap

On July 20, 1989, the President of the United States announced a new direction for the U.S. Space Program. The new Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) is intended to emplace a permanent base on the Lunar surface and a manned outpost on the Mars surface by 2019. In order to achieve this ambitious challenge, new, innovative and robust technologies will have to be developed to support crew operations. Nuclear power and propulsion have been recognized as technologies that are at least mission enhancing and, in some scenarios, mission enabling. Because of the extreme operating conditions present in a nuclear rocket core, accurate modeling of the rocket will require cross section data sets which do not currently exist.