Dr. Fatima Ebrahimi, a physicist working at the U.S. Department of Energy, has invented a new type of rocket propeller that allows the exploration of deep space.
Dr. Ebrahimi works at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and devised a design that uses a magnetic field to shoot plasma particles into space.
By using a magnetic field, pilots can adjust the amount of thrust depending on the mission and destination of the spacecraft.
Current plasma (electrically charged gas particles) propulsion devices use electric fields to drive them. But the use of a magnetic reconnection can lead to a much greater acceleration. Dr. Ebrahimi’s screw can move ten times faster in theory than comparable devices.
The idea is one that already exists in space. When magnetic fields on the solar surface separate and reconnect, it produces an enormous amount of energy. A similar eruption is created in special machines called tokamaks, which is a leading candidate for potential nuclear fusion reactor design.
“I’ve been cooking this concept for a while now,” she writes in a paper outlining the invention for the Journal of Plasma Physics.
“I had the idea in 2017 while sitting on a deck thinking about the similarities between the exhaust of a car and the high-speed exhaust particles created by PPPL’s National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX),” she writes.
“During its action, these tokamak produce magnetic bubbles, called plasmids, that move about 20 kilometers per second, which to me look a lot like shock.”
If the idea can become a reality, this new kind of rocket prop can bring us to Mars much faster. In computer simulations, it generates exhaust gas at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per second.
Given Newton’s second law of motion (resulting force = mass × acceleration) it promises very well for very fast travel in space.
“Long-distance travel takes months or years because the specific impulse of chemical rocket engines is very low, so the vessel takes a while to start quickly,” said Dr. Ebrahimi wrote.
“But if we make propellants based on magnetic reconnection, we can conceivably complete long-distance transmissions in a shorter period of time.”
The scientists explained that the concept comes directly from work on fusion energy.
“This work is inspired by fusion work from the past, and it is the first time that plasmoids and reconnection for space propulsion have been proposed,” said Dr. Ebrahimi wrote.
“The next step is to build a prototype!”
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