2024/09/23 by Sandeep Puri, Puri, Sandeep, Cuikun Lin +12
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #FOS: Physical sciences #Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det) #Nuclear Physics and Applications #Nuclear physics research studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2409.15206
openalex publication_date 2024/09/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In this article, we present our recent experiments on fission fragment rocket propulsion, and on an innovative new design for an alpha particle detection system that has been inspired by these rocketry results. Our test platform, which operates within high magnetic fields 3 T over a large cross\unicodex2013section (approximately 40 cm in diameter), has been used as a test platform to evaluate the containment and thrust within a future fission\unicodex2013fragment rocket engine (FFRE). This much more efficient nuclear rocket propulsion FFRE design was first proposed in the 1980s with the intent of greatly reducing transit times in long\unicodex2013duration space travel. Our objective is to enhance the operational efficiency of this nuclear rocket while gaining deeper insights into the behavior of fuel particles and of the fission\unicodex2013fragment ejecta within strong magnetic fields experimentally. Through a combination of simulations and experimental work, we established a method for the production and detection of alpha particles as a surrogate for fission fragments. To achieve this, we employed Americium\unicodex2013241 ( 241Am) sources, which were situated within a cylindrical vacuum chamber positioned in a 3\unicodex2013T Siemens MRI superconducting magnet. By simulating, measuring, and analyzing the emitted alpha particle flux, we gained valuable information about the distribution and likelihood of escape of fission fragments in a future FFRE design. This approach could potentially achieve both high specific impulse and power density in advanced nuclear propulsion systems, such as the FFRE. More generally, this work provides a powerful new approach for analyzing ion flux and nuclear particle or nuclear reaction fragments from a wide variety of experimental designs.