Promising advances in rocket propulsion offer a new era of spaceflight
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has recently commissioned three private companies, Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin and General Atomics, to develop nuclear fission thermal rockets for use in lunar orbit. Such a development, if flown, could usher in a new era of spaceflight. That said, it...
Discovering the key to ‘fast ignition’
An international team of researchers have discovered what could be the key to controlled nuclear fusion. The first steps towards observing the process, known as ‘fast ignition’, have been taken by a team from the University of California and General Atomics. ‘Fast ignition’ is the process of initiating...