Beamed core antimatter propulsion - more efficient, but don't hold your breath!
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NASA artist's conception of a beamed core antimatter spacecraft (Image: NASA)
NASA artist's conception of a beamed core antimatter spacecraft (Image: NASA)
Depiction of the simulated trajectories of the products of a proton-antiproton collision. The blue lines represent positive pions, the green lines negative pions, and the brown straight lines are gamma rays mostly generated by the decay of neutral pions. Note that the both positive and negative pions are eventually directed out the nozzle (Image: Keane and Zhang)
Schematic illustration of a proton-antiproton annihilation event, showing the emission of two charged pions - one or more neutral pions are also emitted, but immediately decay into gamma rays, and are not shown (Image: Brian Dodson)
Will antimatter fuel the interstellar spacecraft of the future? (Photo: Shutterstock)
Article Summary
Antimatter propulsion is the Holy Grail of spaceflight. When matter and antimatter react, the energy produced is several billion times larger than the thermomechanical energy resulting from burning a kilogram of a hydrocarbon fuel. Now a high school student has developed a new magnetic exhaust nozzle that would double the velocity of an antimatter-powered rocket.
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