Fusion Propulsion

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  • Опубліковано 18 сер 2021
  • Fusion is the power of the stars, and if we can master it, we will be able to send our spaceships to others stars.
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    Credits:
    Fusion Propulsion
    Science & Futurism with Isaac Arthur
    Episode 305, July 15, 2021
    Written, Produced & Narrated by Isaac Arthur
    Editors:
    Andy Nelson
    Anne Kopperud
    A.T. Long
    Darius Said
    Cover Art:
    Jakub Grygier www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier
    Graphics:
    Jeremy Jozwik www.artstation.com/zeuxis_of_...
    Ken York / ydvisual
    LegionTech Studios
    Sam McNamara of Rapid Thrash
    Sergio Botero www.artstation.com/sboterod?f...
    Music:
    Markus Junnikkala www.markusjunnikkala.com/
    AJ Prasad • Dark Future - Staring ...
  • Наука та технологія

КОМЕНТАРІ • 649

  • @almcdonald8676
    @almcdonald8676 2 роки тому +56

    I’ve gone to bed slightly drunk, to listen to this soldier-scientist spin lyrical stories of our future as the gods of our ancestors and suddenly, the world is alright again.

    • @zurn56
      @zurn56 10 місяців тому +3

      That's how I got hooked on his videos! My roommate in 2019 was playing his video to get to sleep after we hit the bars in Beaufort.

  • @CreeperDude-cm1wv
    @CreeperDude-cm1wv 2 роки тому +397

    Imagine explaining fusion to an ancient Egyptian
    Time traveler: right so fusion is basically the sun in a small container.
    Egyptian: so you put a god in a can

    • @nerobernardino88
      @nerobernardino88 2 роки тому +57

      Time Traveler: Yup, you learn quickly!

    • @twenty-fifth420
      @twenty-fifth420 2 роки тому +58

      Honestly if it works, it works. Not our fault the ancients mythologized and divinely attributed nature to the world. At least for polytheistic religions.
      I think the Time Traveler might even open with that like:
      “Okay so imagine if you had the power of a god in a can so we can move throughout space without having to mummify ourselves.”
      Random illiterate egyptian, probably smoking papyrus: “Dude woah. The future sounds so cool. Praise Ra!”

    • @ranfan1820
      @ranfan1820 2 роки тому +35

      @@twenty-fifth420 Ra in a can. Every Egyptian has one! Praise the sun!

    • @Zarcondeegrissom
      @Zarcondeegrissom 2 роки тому +25

      it's always amazing how some just assume that because someone is religious, that they lack basic understanding skills. this is the civilization that made some rather impressive things despite not having modern tools. ye may want to take a look at shadiversity "Medieval people were not flat earthers".
      watch?v=YiRWdOedrrI
      it's a halo earth! lol.
      ancient Egypt being well before the time of suppressing the peasants, ye may find the lack of words for some things more difficult than explaining the concept. it's fire, just a lot hotter. hell, may be usefully for that new iron forging they were starting to tinker with.

    • @twenty-fifth420
      @twenty-fifth420 2 роки тому +9

      @@Zarcondeegrissom I already saw that video, I was joking. Also the Burning of Library of Alexandria set back scientific progress by at least 1,000 years. Trust me, I know. Also your first sentence does not many sense straight up.
      Also I am more sympathetic to polytheism so this joke was made in jesting support of an idea of a random Egyptian who meets a time traveler in a library and then gets told that 6,000 years later that you can bottle Ra in a can like a can of coca cola lol. I am sure it would be much appreciated with curiosity.
      Also, Praise the Sun! And Praise Ra!

  • @jgr7487
    @jgr7487 2 роки тому +304

    I love how "we can just make a ramjet with a black hole" is so nonchalantely said by Isaac Arthur.
    the power scales that are talked about in this channel are amazing!

    • @Nethan2000
      @Nethan2000 2 роки тому +10

      You get used to it.

    • @cryptolicious3738
      @cryptolicious3738 2 роки тому +1

      how fun does a lab leak of a black hole sound? i had a dream thats how earth ended. hopefully not...

    • @rozzgrey801
      @rozzgrey801 2 роки тому +12

      Isaac has a Matrioshka-level intellect which makes such mind-boggling feats a walk in the park.

    • @jgr7487
      @jgr7487 2 роки тому +2

      @@Nethan2000 I'm here since the beginning, & loving it

    • @jgr7487
      @jgr7487 2 роки тому +5

      @@cryptolicious3738 depending on its size, nothing will happen.

  • @dragoninthewest1
    @dragoninthewest1 2 роки тому +114

    2:14 I once heard someone say "Every car is a deadly weapon capable of mass destruction. Remember that when you're speeding down the road."

    • @geemanbmw
      @geemanbmw 2 роки тому +7

      Car is as deadly as a loaded gun is the saying

    • @dragoninthewest1
      @dragoninthewest1 2 роки тому

      @@helloworld9064 that sounds like something that come up in a video

    • @wilfriedklaebe
      @wilfriedklaebe 2 роки тому +8

      @@helloworld9064 just needs to go at 99% c...

  • @grantfomin6829
    @grantfomin6829 2 роки тому +252

    Ah yes. The fusion torch drive that spits out a relativistic jet of radioactive iron. My favorite.

    • @garthnareng4898
      @garthnareng4898 2 роки тому +26

      Why radioactive that just means you've not used all of the energy for acceleration?

    • @mopspear
      @mopspear 2 роки тому +7

      Sounds like MY WIFE!

    • @muninrob
      @muninrob 2 роки тому +17

      @@garthnareng4898 Radioactive because you're binding neutrons to nuclei so you can use them (the neutrons) as additional reaction mass, and most of the time when you do that, the resulting isotope isn't stable.
      Same process as nuclear enrichment in a fission reactor, but instead of being surrounded by a neutron emitter (the reactor), you're in a constant flow of neutron radiation (the directed exhaust).

    • @garthnareng4898
      @garthnareng4898 2 роки тому +1

      @@muninrob I thought it was just an ideal hypothetical fusion reactor that takes in 56 protons and gives out an iron nucleus going out at whatever the mass difference in kinetic energy is.

    • @Dragrath1
      @Dragrath1 2 роки тому +2

      ​@@garthnareng4898 For some context there is an iron peak in the binding energy of atoms which results in a variety of product close to the peak one such supernovae byproduct is Fe 60 which has a half life of 2.6 million years Given the random nature of decay processes that isn't coming back add neutron bombardment to the equation and you get extra of the heavy isotopes

  • @BigZebraCom
    @BigZebraCom 2 роки тому +196

    I was going to build some fusion-propelled spacecraft--but then things got really crazy at work.

    • @airborneranger-ret
      @airborneranger-ret 2 роки тому +3

      lol

    • @BigZebraCom
      @BigZebraCom 2 роки тому +7

      @@yorkyone2143 Thanks for the encouragement. But at work I've just been saddled with the Henderson Account--it's a nightmare, let me tell you!

    • @nias2631
      @nias2631 2 роки тому +15

      I wanted to fuse some atoms but I couldn't get it together...

    • @yulu803
      @yulu803 2 роки тому +2

      @@nias2631 XD

    • @BigZebraCom
      @BigZebraCom 2 роки тому +2

      @@nias2631 I know how you feel!

  • @SporkmanBW
    @SporkmanBW 2 роки тому +125

    "A reaction drive's efficiency as a weapon is in direct proportion to its efficiency as a drive." - The Kizinti Lesson (from Larry Niven's Known Space series)

    • @TheVillainInGlasses
      @TheVillainInGlasses 2 роки тому +6

      Or, in other words, “Sir Isaac Newton is the deadliest son-of-a-bitch in space!”

    • @TheReaverOfDarkness
      @TheReaverOfDarkness 2 роки тому +9

      Once you fire this hunk of metal, it keeps going 'till it hits something! That can be a ship, or the planet behind that ship! It might go off into deep space and hit somebody else in ten thousand years! If you pull the trigger on this, you are ruining someone's day, somewhere and some time!

    • @HeliosFive
      @HeliosFive 2 роки тому +3

      I know of that one. It's the first rule of warfare

    • @drachefly
      @drachefly 2 роки тому +1

      Not QUITE accurate, as a small angle spread will ruin things far quicker for the weapon than for the drive.

    • @LordFalconsword
      @LordFalconsword 2 роки тому

      I remember humans had been brain washed into being woke wimps in that universe as well, all but incapable of violence. Seems apropos.

  • @ramuk1933
    @ramuk1933 2 роки тому +118

    As your spaceship shoots a laser at the destination to slow down, the destination puts up a solar panel to get energy from it.

    • @OpreanMircea
      @OpreanMircea 2 роки тому +32

      Or a mirror to accelerate a second smaller outbound craft

    • @isaacarthurSFIA
      @isaacarthurSFIA  2 роки тому +68

      :) Or fires defensive turrets at you. If you did have a beam-style drive I'd guess you'd be expected to keep it as 2+ beams off at different small angles, though having them track on a big power collector is a potentially good approach.

    • @muninrob
      @muninrob 2 роки тому +29

      Destination uses a mirror to reflect it back to a mirror on your ship, that reflects it back to that same mirror at the destination. This way you get a larger slowing effect per photon emitted. (At that scale, that's a LOT of energy saved)

    • @Dragrath1
      @Dragrath1 2 роки тому +11

      Or you could launch your laser near a target black hole at an angle precisely calculated to return that laser pulse to you the net energy varying based on the spin alignment of the black hole. Dr. Kipping's Halo Drive is a fun concept that uses light to perform the Penrose process while avoiding the whole pesky tidal disruption problems.

    • @muninrob
      @muninrob 2 роки тому +3

      @@Dragrath1 Wouldn't you need to use something with mass, in order to keep the captured kinetic energy?

  • @kerbodynamicx472
    @kerbodynamicx472 2 роки тому +116

    It's scary to imagine how much destructive power was packed in these fusion torch drives we see in sci-fi, behind that bone-crushing acceleration is the heat to incinerate a planet, such is the power of stars!

    • @Zarcondeegrissom
      @Zarcondeegrissom 2 роки тому +11

      especially when it's fusion candles for pushing gas giants out of orbit or into an orbit, it's a lot of energy.

    • @The_Bird_Bird_Harder
      @The_Bird_Bird_Harder Рік тому +2

      @@Zarcondeegrissom One thing I love is that in Starsector (game) an item you can get to aid a player colony is a fusion powered... Heat lamp.

  • @tranquilitybase8100
    @tranquilitybase8100 2 роки тому +182

    Don't forget the first rule of warfare: all fusion drives can be used as a weapon.

    • @JRexRegis
      @JRexRegis 2 роки тому +26

      All drives, really.
      - An orion device is just a cluster nuke
      - a fusion drive can be used as a kinetic WMD
      - an antimatter drive contains antimatter that can annihilate
      - A black hole drive contains a singularity that can be unleashed

    • @ancapftw9113
      @ancapftw9113 2 роки тому +29

      @@JRexRegis for that matter, a chemical engine can just move you fast enough to ram them really hard.

    • @machematix
      @machematix 2 роки тому +16

      go fast -> big crash

    • @faust7756
      @faust7756 2 роки тому +6

      Faster the transport the more deadly the transport is generally. Unarmed Spaceship is a bad trope

    • @rommdan2716
      @rommdan2716 2 роки тому +6

      @@ancapftw9113 Yeah, that's how misiles works

  • @henrytjernlund
    @henrytjernlund 2 роки тому +27

    "In order to travel between the stars, we will need the power of the stars." A great T-shirt graphic.

    • @achtsekundenfurz7876
      @achtsekundenfurz7876 2 роки тому +1

      "We wanted to get to another star, so we built our own star to take us there."
      Should be a popular shirt among . . . _starcrafters._

  • @mikedrop4421
    @mikedrop4421 2 роки тому +20

    The fact they stacked the floors in the correct orientation is why I fell in love with The Expanse

  • @a-blivvy-yus
    @a-blivvy-yus 2 роки тому +29

    With how bright and powerful starship drives need to be, I feel like stealth in space becomes a "needle in a haystack" kind of stealth once you get enough ships travelling around, instead of being actually "I want to go unseen" because you're always going to be seen, and the trick is not to be noticed among the clutter of other people being seen...

    • @cw8jwh
      @cw8jwh 11 місяців тому

      Coat the hulls with VantaBlack.

    • @a-blivvy-yus
      @a-blivvy-yus 11 місяців тому

      @@cw8jwh Which as a dark colour, is a significant heat radiator and will give off significant amounts of infrared radiation which will make it highly visible to common sensors used in space. It also doesn't absorb radio waves, so wouldn't mitigate radar detection.

    • @cw8jwh
      @cw8jwh 11 місяців тому +1

      @@a-blivvy-yus I know.
      I was being sarcastic.

    • @a-blivvy-yus
      @a-blivvy-yus 11 місяців тому

      @@cw8jwh xD sorry, I missed that at first...

  • @Chad_Thundercock
    @Chad_Thundercock 2 роки тому +38

    "At temperatures of millions of degrees"
    ...and now that song is stuck in my head.

    • @isaacarthurSFIA
      @isaacarthurSFIA  2 роки тому +21

      Yo ho it's hot, the sun is not a place where we could live
      But here on earth there'd be no life without the light it gives

    • @Chad_Thundercock
      @Chad_Thundercock 2 роки тому +9

      @@isaacarthurSFIA
      I've said it before, but I'll say it again because it's worth repeating - I really appreciate you, sir.

    • @portalopener7759
      @portalopener7759 2 роки тому +1

      @@isaacarthurSFIA : Fusion energy break through is now successful: ua-cam.com/video/Gsz3TiqrH0c/v-deo.html

  • @richmigala2539
    @richmigala2539 2 роки тому +27

    Fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei come close enough together to form one ore more different atomic nuclei or sub atomic particles. The reaction may reach a stable equilibrium in which it separates from Massachusetts and creates its own thriving lobster industry. This is called the Maine sequence.

    • @nias2631
      @nias2631 2 роки тому +3

      Nice!

    • @NullHand
      @NullHand 2 роки тому +2

      Unless too many sub atomic particles are forced into too small a volume, in which case it must collapse into a MassHole.

    • @portalopener7759
      @portalopener7759 2 роки тому

      @Rich Migala: Fusion energy break through is now successful: ua-cam.com/video/Gsz3TiqrH0c/v-deo.html

  • @singletona082
    @singletona082 2 роки тому +53

    It is still mind blowing we have fusion reactors now. They just don't produce more power than you put in at least as of right now.

    • @geekswithfeet9137
      @geekswithfeet9137 2 роки тому +9

      A point often missed is that we technically don’t have to break even, as you get the input energy back anyway as heat. If you have heat engines running at 60% efficiency like some of the leading rankin cycles at the moment, then you only need another 40% to win out on top.

    • @thorin1045
      @thorin1045 2 роки тому +20

      @@geekswithfeet9137 Not exactly, if you get out 40%, than you only have 60% energy remaining, so your heat engine will generate 60% of 60%, 36%, and you still missed 24% to break even. Even worse, you do not need break even, at that point you use an insanely complex machine to do nothing. You need economic return level for actual usage, which is much higher, not sure how high, since we do not know the actual cost of the fusion reactor and the actual cost of the fusion fuel. The true big issue is that we currently not reached even energy positive state reliably, and very far from useful energy positive state, and than we could maybe start talking about economicly positive reactors.

    • @ozzymandius666
      @ozzymandius666 2 роки тому +2

      @@thorin1045 Maybe by 2150.

    • @cedriceric9730
      @cedriceric9730 2 роки тому +1

      They are " electric " neutron sources and expensive helium generators

    • @jgr7487
      @jgr7487 2 роки тому +1

      Helium factories are indeed quite fine.

  • @fredwupkensoppel8949
    @fredwupkensoppel8949 2 роки тому +40

    Video idea: Internet between colonies. How will we handle someone uploading UA-cam videos on earth that people on Mars want to see? Surely Mars will have an independent planetary information network, but how and to what degree will we keep Earth-internet and Mars-internet snychronized? Will we do that at all? I'd be curious to see what you have to say about this topic :D

    • @user-yq6ov6ow7l
      @user-yq6ov6ow7l 2 роки тому +8

      Almost surely be completely synchronized with just a few minute delay. Yeah it would be annoying to wait. We all survived with 14.4 modems. I mean multiplayer video games don’t usually pair you with someone on the other side of the planet either.
      The internet is sort of already segregated. UA-cam.mars
      Now internet at another star system…that’s a better question

    • @TastyBaldEagle
      @TastyBaldEagle 2 роки тому +1

      You'd probably just try to copy the entire internet and synchronize them every hour

    • @fredwupkensoppel8949
      @fredwupkensoppel8949 2 роки тому +4

      @@user-yq6ov6ow7l Indeed. In that case, I wonder if we will have unmanned ships which are basically giant warehouses of harddrives with rockets that travel back and forth, or if we just won't bother.

    • @virutech32
      @virutech32 2 роки тому +4

      @@fredwupkensoppel8949 it wouldn't make any sense to use ships. you would just send the data over tight beam. faster & doesn't require wasting tons of fuel

    • @fredwupkensoppel8949
      @fredwupkensoppel8949 2 роки тому +2

      @@virutech32 Question is whether or not intersolar tight beam is viable for high density data transfers, even considering possible future methods of compression. In computer networking, one of the first things you learn is "never underestimate the transfer rate of a van loaded up with harddrives zipping over the highway".

  • @martinmorrissey5647
    @martinmorrissey5647 2 роки тому +1

    this guys accent and voice inflections give him an ET like authority

  • @Arrynek01
    @Arrynek01 2 роки тому +4

    You have no idea how happy this particular upload made me.
    I've spent the last fourteen days researching exactly this topic.

    • @captainhakob814
      @captainhakob814 2 роки тому

      He makes the videos months in advance and some how in thinking of the topic when it comes out, the timing is crazy.
      I feel like he programmed me to feel like I'm the one making these choices

    • @Arrynek01
      @Arrynek01 2 роки тому

      @@captainhakob814 So... What you are saing is that he's the Architect.

  • @TheRogueRockhound
    @TheRogueRockhound 2 роки тому +5

    Arthursday = Best day

  • @chrisgriffith1573
    @chrisgriffith1573 2 роки тому +5

    The power from fusion drives means you can limit the amount of power you need for the task of acceleration needed. Once you achieve the desired balance of power, then you can make scaled uses of such technology, and all different levels of use can be achieved, shuttles to enormous vessels.

  • @baylorgimp
    @baylorgimp 2 роки тому +16

    I like the way the web comic Schlocks Mercenary did kinetic weapons and high speed drives

    • @matthewlong9821
      @matthewlong9821 2 роки тому +1

      That was a great comic!

    • @voxelsofsorrow
      @voxelsofsorrow 2 роки тому +1

      like the c-sabots that the Partnership Collective uses to attack Tagon's Toughs early on! I miss that comic but I finally discovered the Culture series so it's like having a bunch of sequels in book form.

  • @Jondiceful
    @Jondiceful 2 роки тому +4

    The ram jet as a means of slowing down is actually pretty awesome. First the interstellar dust and gasses slow you down as you collect them. Then they slow you down again as you burn them as fuel. I imagine you scoop could be modified to serve as a pusherplate for accelerating too. Even a magnetic pusherplate as an extension on a physical one could help add efficiency to a standard fusion drive or might even be useful for ground-based laser or maser driven propulsion.

    • @schmetterling4477
      @schmetterling4477 2 роки тому

      Yes, we can buy unobtainium pusher plates cheaply at the X-Men hardware store.

  • @secrom1014
    @secrom1014 2 роки тому +14

    I just woke up early and needed your voice to fall back asleep! 🙏

    • @iLikeMyOwnPosts
      @iLikeMyOwnPosts 2 роки тому +1

      🤣

    • @miamijules2149
      @miamijules2149 2 роки тому +5

      You are not alone…. for a guy with a ‘speech impediment’…. he sure as shit has a great voice. Lolol

    • @secrom1014
      @secrom1014 2 роки тому +4

      @@miamijules2149 Him and John Godier are my go to's.

  • @lanorothwolf2184
    @lanorothwolf2184 2 роки тому +9

    I can sense deep emotions in intonation when pronouncing Uranus

  • @wildman8060
    @wildman8060 2 роки тому +12

    Feels awsome to finally watch a vid right after release. Love your stuff man, its amazing for helping me worldbuild.

  • @dougnorthcote3420
    @dougnorthcote3420 2 роки тому +1

    Excellent series of books that address some but by no means all, of using an Orion drive for moving some quite large stuff. Like stupidly large, multi trillion ton asteriods etc. Called "Live Free or Die" by John Ringo, loosely based around the "Sclock Mercenary universe about 1000 years before that timeline kicks off." or as Howard Taylor said it. "Best fan fiction ever!"

  • @rayceeya8659
    @rayceeya8659 2 роки тому +3

    Hey I recognize that web page 12min in. Atomic Rockets. I love flipping through that site and reading about all the crazy ideas that are out there.

  • @rockscousteau
    @rockscousteau 2 роки тому +3

    Love all the videos. Seems like i am getting more notifications & you seem to do be doing more uploads than usual..............THAT IS AWESOME. Keep em' coming Isaac. These videos are DAMN GOOD

  • @MrPants1100
    @MrPants1100 2 роки тому +4

    This is one of my favorite topics! Thank you for an amazing episode!

  • @EddyA1337
    @EddyA1337 2 роки тому +6

    If we could ever have fusion propulsion like they do in the expanse... Acceleration that is so fast and efficient ships can be designed to use that as a means of gravity and flip and decelerate halfway

    • @km5405
      @km5405 2 роки тому +1

      the hard radiation the drives they use in the expanse would give off is something they kinda gloss over lol. even less efficient ones would be a game changer though, using fractions of a ship for fuel reserves not like 95% of the ship being fuel

    • @EddyA1337
      @EddyA1337 2 роки тому +5

      @@km5405 for sure. While it is hard sci fi, it's still sci fi haha, and one of the best damn stories, books and show, ever told. My favorite thing is how Mars has a culture all its own. So glad James S.A. Corey are involved with the book to show adaption. But ya there would have to be a radiation shield or something in the reactor to protect the crew.

    • @barahng
      @barahng 2 роки тому

      @@EddyA1337 The Expanse lost me when they added in magical FTL portals. I'll stick to Alistair Reynolds.

    • @skipperg4436
      @skipperg4436 2 роки тому +1

      @@barahng traversable wormholes can exist according to math models, but there is no mechanism proposed thus far how such things can form. There are so many things about the universe that we don't know that their existence can't be ruled out.

  • @smoore6461
    @smoore6461 4 місяці тому

    I really enjoy going back and watching older SFIA videos! There are so many great videos to watch more than once! I would LOVE for the Unity story to come back again some day!

  • @tomastomasi975
    @tomastomasi975 2 роки тому +2

    Getting to the furthest planet in the solar system in 15/16days? So fast it sounds like fiction tbh.

  • @zenkomenhi
    @zenkomenhi 2 роки тому +1

    This video helped me realize that ships in my worldbuilding project travel at 1% light speed

  • @user-qf6yt3id3w
    @user-qf6yt3id3w 2 роки тому +26

    I like the way in The Expanse the Epstein Drive seems like something which is a relatively minor tweak on existing fusion drives which makes them vastly more efficient.

    • @larrybeckham6652
      @larrybeckham6652 2 роки тому +2

      But it is still Clarketech. I do not mind Clarketech with aliens who are a billion years ahead of us but I prefer humans to still within the known laws of physics.

    • @Chad_Thundercock
      @Chad_Thundercock 2 роки тому +9

      The biggest problem with the Epstein Drive is that someone always sabotages it, then blames the engine itself.

    • @user-qf6yt3id3w
      @user-qf6yt3id3w 2 роки тому +14

      @@larrybeckham6652 I'm not sure it is. It's just a very efficient fusion drive. Nothing in it breaks known physics.

    • @larrybeckham6652
      @larrybeckham6652 2 роки тому

      @@user-qf6yt3id3w so, you checked the math on the Epstein Drive? IT IS A FANTASY!

    • @larrybeckham6652
      @larrybeckham6652 2 роки тому

      @Roberto Vidal Garcia sorry. Your money is cheerfully refunded.

  • @Inglonias
    @Inglonias 2 роки тому +3

    This helped me understand how to play modded KSP a little better. Thanks!

  • @alexanderp7521
    @alexanderp7521 2 роки тому +2

    Acceleration/deceleration problem could be solved by using stasis chambers where crew will be frozen until the state of solid matter and then after acceleration/deceleration unfrozen (or remain frozen for duration of an entire flight). Or using transhumans (whose bodies consist of non-organinc matter entirely) as crew members

  • @evensgrey
    @evensgrey 2 роки тому +1

    If your ship and cargo are tolerant of high accelerations, you don't have to just brake with a Bussard collector against the relatively thin, randomly moving interstellar medium. You can cut the end of the journey short by running down close to a target star and braking against the denser, highly direction stellar wind. This also should make it easier to kindle a fusion flame as stellar wind should be quite hot to begin with. (You do have to make a judgement call about just how suitable any given star is for this maneuver. Fortunately, any ship contemplating this maneuver is going to be watching that candidate star for several years, with increasing resolution, prior to having to make the decision as to exactly how to conduct braking.)

  • @businessbusiness9407
    @businessbusiness9407 2 роки тому +2

    There's a great sense of swagger to this one

  • @PaulA-zp7hn
    @PaulA-zp7hn 2 роки тому +1

    Will watch this tonight. Thanks in advance for another awesome episode! (because it always is...)

  • @yoshikhurazi1769
    @yoshikhurazi1769 2 роки тому +3

    Now I want a video on interstellar ramjet concepts, I always found the bussard ramjet idea appealing but was disheartened to hear it relegated to only being a braking solution. Glad to see that there are options out there.

  • @larrybeckham6652
    @larrybeckham6652 2 роки тому +6

    One my favorite episodes! I wonder if you could have a ship generate beams of positions that the leverage a jet of proton fusing with protons. And if the direction of the protons would make the excess neutrons join in the thrust?

    • @larrybeckham6652
      @larrybeckham6652 2 роки тому

      This is in! The National Ignition Facility has used it's 192 laser array to fuse hydrogen-deuterium at Q of .7! Woohoo!

  • @jon-laurencedecespedes2811
    @jon-laurencedecespedes2811 2 роки тому +2

    i think the torch drives of the Hyperion cantos ,although later than Heinlein, are more akin to your examples. awesome vid as always .

  • @Mtha77
    @Mtha77 2 роки тому +5

    Surely it’s not a coincidence that you released this video yesterday, the next day the National Ignition facility announces a breakthrough or step forward in Fusion tech?? Did you know Isaac?

    • @YodaWhat
      @YodaWhat 2 роки тому

      There is a HUGE differene between "laboratory breakeven" and *real world breakeven* that requires the output energy to be fed back in to drive the process, with 90% left over for external uses. What the NIF announcement is, basically, is CLICKBAIT.

  • @herbiehusker1889
    @herbiehusker1889 2 роки тому +2

    Happy ArThursday!

  • @TheEyez187
    @TheEyez187 2 роки тому +2

    I was just imagining a Shkadov thruster powered not by a "normal" stars, but by a Neutron star (engine capable of 43,000RPM lol :D) or a Magnetar, using it's high magnetic forces to work as a tow truck to pull a fleet of vessels! :D

    • @yimingwang8037
      @yimingwang8037 2 роки тому +1

      put a shit ton of magnetar and create a stellar railgun :D

    • @TheEyez187
      @TheEyez187 2 роки тому +1

      @@yimingwang8037 Adapt it so the railgun fires ships; Mass Effect-esque.
      -Or use the railgun to propel solar sails- you wouldn't be able to slow the fucker down at the other end.
      "It's entering orbit.... it's exiting the orbit.... and it's gone!!" >XD

  • @Babalas
    @Babalas 2 роки тому +1

    Fusion - so powerful it makes the earth spin backwards

  • @Ockersvin
    @Ockersvin 2 роки тому +3

    Question for Isaac: how have you managed to gather this massive amount of knowledge on science and futurism?

    • @mrcoryman1
      @mrcoryman1 2 роки тому +4

      I'm pretty sure he's an accredited theoretical physicist, so I'd say a decade of higher education and the ability to understand and explain in rather simple terms highly complex concepts and ideas.

  • @skepticmoderate5790
    @skepticmoderate5790 2 роки тому +1

    I just wanted to mention that in my thermodynamics class, the Bussard ramjet was used in the final exam, so future engineers really are thinking about these kinds of things.

  • @versinussyrin577
    @versinussyrin577 2 роки тому +2

    There are so many fusion drive concepts, some are viable, some not
    But riding something what is essentially a mini star on its own burning at millions of kelvins would be kinda badass

  • @JustABill02
    @JustABill02 2 роки тому +4

    What would be a reasonable maximum relative speed to use atmospheric breaking? Not necessarily to land, but to slow down. For example fly thru/thru the upper part of a gas giant on your way in to drop speed so you can land on an inner, more hospitable planet.

  • @sunnyinvladivostok
    @sunnyinvladivostok 2 роки тому +4

    After being on youtube for years, I just barely stumbled on this channel from the sidebar recommendations.. Love it! Seems a step up in terms of actual content from other similar channels. Any recommendations on great episodes to start with?

  • @JohannVF
    @JohannVF 2 роки тому +4

    LLNLab just had a major breakthrough in ICF ignition.

  • @AugustusBohn0
    @AugustusBohn0 2 роки тому +1

    lovely opening CG clip 👌

  • @Dani004able
    @Dani004able 2 роки тому +3

    Why not use a magnetic bottle for fusion. This just needs to be bigger and stronger than our current ones. You could let some of the super heated plasma out at the neck of that bottle wich then go thou a magnetic field than make them move very straight out of your engine. There it is, propulsion directly from a fusion plasma, powerfull and with high exhaust velocity.

  • @rommdan2716
    @rommdan2716 2 роки тому +7

    The best part of fusion propulsion is you have artificial gravity for free.

    • @TheArtofFugue
      @TheArtofFugue 2 роки тому +1

      Would say that’s the best. Maybe the coolest though.

    • @ANKITKUMAR-cl1og
      @ANKITKUMAR-cl1og 2 роки тому +1

      What has fusion has anything to do with gravity?
      Plz explain

    • @rommdan2716
      @rommdan2716 2 роки тому +1

      @@ANKITKUMAR-cl1og Fusion propulsion would allow you to constantly accelerate a 1G for extended periods of time

  • @richdarlowgolf
    @richdarlowgolf Рік тому

    I really hope we can do it Isaac, another fantastic episode thank you!

  • @kb9oak749
    @kb9oak749 2 роки тому +3

    It's sad that the chances of Humanity leaving for interstellar space are decreasing dramatically as our imminent societal collapse proceeds apace.

  • @pieceofschmidtgamer
    @pieceofschmidtgamer 2 роки тому

    First Rule of Isaac Arthur's Fight Club: All Fusion Drives can be used as weapons.
    Second Rule of Isaac Arthur's Fight Club: Talk about Isaac Arthur's Fight Club because it's interesting.

  • @yaomingas5425
    @yaomingas5425 2 роки тому

    I like your videos, keep going

  • @theOrionsarms
    @theOrionsarms 2 роки тому +1

    But if you send the fuel for deceleration with another slower ship with tens of years before the passenger ship to be launched, and when second ship reach near the slowest one decelerate only enough to match the speed of the ship that carries fuels from the rest of deceleration. That would need a lot of long term planning I think.

  • @lloydfromfar
    @lloydfromfar 2 роки тому

    That intro.. a few shattering words! :)

  • @kenhelmers2603
    @kenhelmers2603 2 роки тому

    Thanks!

  • @032Qrayber
    @032Qrayber 2 роки тому +1

    Damn, you are on fire these days

  • @AvyScottandFlower
    @AvyScottandFlower 2 роки тому +6

    A bussard ram jet might be about the only solution, for a spaceship NOT to disintegrate at such speeds..

    • @TheEvilmooseofdoom
      @TheEvilmooseofdoom 2 роки тому

      There are a few issues with Bussard Ramjets too..

    • @barahng
      @barahng 2 роки тому

      @@TheEvilmooseofdoom Mainly that they don't work.

    • @yumazster
      @yumazster 2 роки тому

      @@barahng They work as brakes well enough. Good for deceleration and filling up the tanks as far as I can remember. The miscalculation in the initial design had something to do with the interstellar medium density assumptions. We know more now and that is why we know you couldn't accelerate with the ramjet.

    • @ericgolightly8450
      @ericgolightly8450 Рік тому +1

      You might need a good particle shield otherwise.

  • @yomiyama
    @yomiyama 2 роки тому +3

    At 24:39 - you say that you're calculating flight time with constant acceleration *and turnover* for a given distance and you give the following formula: t=√(8d/a)
    You said "and turnover", yet, you didn't take into account mission apogee, that would have implied halving the distance that is in the square root and multiplying the result out of the square root by 2 giving us a multiplier of 4 in the square root not 8.
    The actual formula is: t=√(4d/a)
    I would go into details but it's almost 4 a.m here.

  • @makeracistsafraidagain
    @makeracistsafraidagain 2 роки тому +1

    Excellent topic!

  • @Khannea
    @Khannea 2 роки тому +1

    Isaac, can you have the following ...
    (1) You colonize a KBO object in a specific direction, somewhere 5-10 billion kilometers from the sun, construct a large industrial complex there...
    (2) construct a space elevator on that KBO that exports large structures
    (3) construct a linear accelerator radiating outward from that KBO capable of accelerating high mass physical objects to an appreciable fraction of the speed of light
    (4) ...launching fuel, food, industrial components, etc.
    (5) you accelerate a large vessel rom the asteroid belt in the direction of the KBO (and beyond which lies a star you can colonize)
    (6) you overtake aforementioned KBO, find a KBO that's about 5-10 billion kilometers further, and construct a large industrial complex that, we label this complex 00002
    (7) repeat steps 2, 3, 4 on complex 00002
    (8) launch a second vessel from the asteroid belt, find a third KBO somewhere 10-20 billion kilometer from the sun, construct complex 00003
    (9) keep on repeating earlier steps in ever greater increments for "a few hundred to a few thousand times" creating a daisy chain of industrial facilities
    (10) ... thereby creating a sequence of refueling structures capable of injecting acceleration and eventually deccelleration energy into an interstellar vessel
    (11) ... let's say one such colonial entity created every year, a constant sequence of vessels underway to build the next chain in the sequence
    (12) .... let's say ten light years, so let's assume a thousand relay stations might be needed per light year
    (13) ... thereby allowing a huge interstellar structure ship to maintain indefinite fairly substantial (1G?) accleration and decceleration for the voyage...
    (14) ... thereby allowing such a "constantly refueled ship" to travel
    (15) we can of course launch these chainbuilding vessels much more often. They don't need to accelerate at 1G initially. But as more stations emerge in the sequence, we can increase their speed and (over time as technological advances percolate down the chain) their capacity to upgrade on the fly, or build ever more sophisticated waystation structures
    (16) My guess is we don't need a full ten thousand years to build all waystations, if we launch substantially more often, and as the chainbuilders gradually get more fuel from stations being erected "in their path", laying the sequence might be done substantially faster, say, under a thousand years.
    (17) and eventual travel times for a fully operational chain might come down to decades for constantly refuelled vessels. And with sufficient capacity you can send a LOT of colonial ships to the respective destinations.
    Downside is you need a chain for every single star system you want to colonize, give or take. Advantage is this technology works in both directions.
    I label this project a "Khannea Daisey Chain".

  • @shadowhenge7118
    @shadowhenge7118 2 роки тому

    I think this really highlights that we need to manipulate forces like inertia, gravity, and even mass if we want sci-fi's version of space travel. Inertial dampeners, anti-gravity, and warp fields are the real plot armor of sci-fi. If theres a chance any of them are possible, we should pursue them a little more than casually alongside fusion drives and such.

  • @chrisgriffith1573
    @chrisgriffith1573 2 роки тому

    Thats a great insight: "To get to the stars, we will need the power OF the stars!"

  • @cryoine7194
    @cryoine7194 2 роки тому

    i always loved these intros

  • @Lukegear
    @Lukegear 2 роки тому +2

    Ha! It rhymes!

  • @johnrickard8512
    @johnrickard8512 Рік тому

    It has just occured to me that to deal with the neutron radiation from fusion we should use depleted uranium shielding. You see, when depleted uranium absorbs neutrons it becomes plutonium which I don't think needs introduction. Needless to say this is a superb way to capture the energy lost in the form of rogue neutrons.

  • @Windows035
    @Windows035 2 роки тому

    "we've had fusion power since the mid 20th century"
    *wolfenstein music plays*

  • @gabiausten8774
    @gabiausten8774 2 роки тому +1

    Greetings from Germany. 🇩🇪 Thank you for the fantastic new Video. ✅✅✅❤️

  • @stevemickler452
    @stevemickler452 2 роки тому +6

    Dr. Robert Forward showed that fusion propulsion is not necessary in principle, for interstellar travel but you don't have to depend on light pressure as his concept did, since the beam can be focused to heat a propellant or converted into electricity for a magnetic reconnection or other electric rocket propulsion system. Beam powered rocket propulsion beats even antimatter rockets.

  • @kalebmaciver7117
    @kalebmaciver7117 2 роки тому

    Awesome vid

  • @onetruekeeper
    @onetruekeeper 6 місяців тому

    Plasma drives are often depicted as some sort of long duration rocket propulsion that uses fuel very slowly.. But plasma drives can operate without expelling fuel out the back end. Once a plasma is formed it needs to be contained in a vacuum magnetic bottle. The more energetic the state the plasma is kept in the greater the pressure exerted against the magnetic bottle. If this pressure was unevenly distributed the plasma drive will tend to move in the direction with the greater amount of pressure just as a conventional rocket engine would but in this case there will be no exhaust expelled into space.

  • @DavidEvans_dle
    @DavidEvans_dle 2 роки тому +1

    When they make fusion power motorcycles.
    I'll let them off the hook on the delay of developing flying cars. :)

  • @acarrillo8277
    @acarrillo8277 2 роки тому +1

    This couldn't have been timed better considering the recent success in California with an ignition of a fusion reaction.

    • @Zarcondeegrissom
      @Zarcondeegrissom 2 роки тому +1

      oh, nice, congrats to California (rrr, correction, LLNL). in fairness, fusion has been done for some time, they are just putting in more energy than there getting out of it so far, mostly because it's all small experimental reactors not meant for sustained reaction (just 100 trillionths of a second).

    • @NullHand
      @NullHand 2 роки тому

      Yeah, but I wouldn’t call the NIF exactly small.
      A 10 story football stadium full of lasers all aimed down on a 2mm target.
      I think they are claiming a fusion energy yield of 70% of laser energy in.
      Not specified is the electrical efficiency of the lasers.
      I don't think this design was ever seriously about fusion for power generation though. More a way to do experimental fusion physics for weapons once the Nuclear Test Ban treaty removed the thermonuclear Easy Button.
      Still a good milestone. Science makes both swords and plowshares possible. Shame its so much harder to fund the plowshares.

  • @barryon8706
    @barryon8706 2 роки тому +1

    My short-term favorite torch drive is the nuclear salt water rocket. But if a starship were built using it, I think I'd like that built in orbit around some other planet. I don't consider myself nuclear-phobic, but that's a lot of fuel, all of it a nuclear hypergolic monopropellant.
    For long-term, matter to energy conversion. Somehow. Little black holes, inducing proton decay, whatever.

  • @ronaldwhite1730
    @ronaldwhite1730 2 роки тому

    thank - you .

  • @DerekJones1081962
    @DerekJones1081962 9 місяців тому

    The difference between a fission bomb and a long lived power reactor is that a significant number of neutrons are born delayed. I have long theorized that a hybrid fission-fusion device could be built that the fusion fuel flowing through a fission core and controlled/catalyzed by the free neutrons reflected back into the fission core. Hence, adding a feedback/control system for the fusion fuel prior to compression and ignition in the separate fusor. I just can't get anyone to pay attention long enough to understand the underlying phisics.

  • @allenyordy6700
    @allenyordy6700 2 роки тому

    Happy Isaac day

  • @myriaddsystems
    @myriaddsystems 2 роки тому

    Fascinating listening to this presenter's accent alone

  • @Beamer1969
    @Beamer1969 2 роки тому +2

    A laser to accelerate and a ramjet braking system?

  • @SACR3DBAC0N
    @SACR3DBAC0N 2 роки тому +1

    Been waiting for this for a while! I haven't finished watching this video, but is there a chance we could get your take on dV budgeting and interplanetary/interstellar brachistochrone transfers?

  • @robroberts1473
    @robroberts1473 2 роки тому +4

    Issac: there is no stealth in space.
    Klingon: hold my beer. 🍺

    • @lkrnpk
      @lkrnpk 2 роки тому

      Free Navy: look at New York

  • @5amH45lam
    @5amH45lam 2 роки тому +2

    We've (seemingly) yet to realise an affordable, safe, fusion-based form of energy production and storage (nor any viable alternatives, for that matter) because the petrochemical industry gets a severe case of _colonic twitchytitis_ when potential alt-energy candidates surface. For which they remedy by acquiring intellectual property from alt-energy inventors, at whatever amount both party's agree to.
    Those 'blueprints' are then locked away, never to see the light of day again.
    This behaviour is documented, continues to this day, and is the single biggest hurdle to the successful development of alternative energy sources.

    • @portalopener7759
      @portalopener7759 2 роки тому

      @Mr Jean Deaux: Fusion energy break through is now successful: ua-cam.com/video/Gsz3TiqrH0c/v-deo.html

  • @ezramantini8078
    @ezramantini8078 2 роки тому

    Love it

  • @scottmoore6131
    @scottmoore6131 Рік тому

    Request update now that we have a fusion power plant that produced more power that went into it. The reason is this power plant looks like it’s almost built for space travel.

  • @peterhall8572
    @peterhall8572 2 роки тому

    Whenever I hear you talk about black hole powered ships I automatically think of the film "Event Horizon" that'll put you off the idea and give you nightmares

  • @Jumpyexponent45
    @Jumpyexponent45 2 роки тому

    I am simple man. I see Isaac Arthur, I click like.

  • @pinoyhssf
    @pinoyhssf 2 роки тому

    yes. a new video

  • @Neko85508
    @Neko85508 2 роки тому +3

    Issac I'm so proud of you, your videos are always so interesting and super well narrated.If I had to pick a favourite it would be black hole farming. Keep up the good work my child ....

  • @klausgartenstiel4586
    @klausgartenstiel4586 2 роки тому

    man, the iron drive 🎸 that's just pure metal.

  • @andrewgraziani4331
    @andrewgraziani4331 2 роки тому +1

    Before I watch, we can expect 5 to 10% speed of light for practical purposes.

  • @bencoad8492
    @bencoad8492 2 роки тому

    @
    Isaac Arthur have you ever looked at Thunderbolts warm fusion experiment the SAFIRE project? As an alternative to hot fusion they seem to get some results, might be another pathway top a new engine type as well.

  • @carltanner9065
    @carltanner9065 2 роки тому

    Fusion rockets would be ideal for travel around the solar system, especially if you keep to rather pedestrian speeds, i.e. 0.1c, etc. That's around 57 days to 1000AU, which is around the edge of the inner Oort Cloud. Not that you're going to see much out there, unless you come across an asteroid or comet nucleus out there. But, we could put comms relays and/or space telescopes, etc, out that distance. Or, being more ambitious, we could put space stations out there. Either man made or use asteroids as a base of operations. Using them as jump off points, it wouldn't take long to go out 10000AU, or even a full light year (63240AU). Especially jumping 1000AU at a time.

  • @torjones1701
    @torjones1701 2 роки тому +2

    2:57 Your Earth is spinning the wrong way. You're getting sunrise in the West rather than the East as is traditional.

    • @BraveDave
      @BraveDave 2 роки тому +1

      Haha. "As is tradition". It's also lit up on the side not facing the Sun and closer to the Sun than Mercury. A person stood on that Earth would see the Sun taking up about 50% of the entire sky. They'd also be incinerated :P

    • @torjones1701
      @torjones1701 2 роки тому +1

      @@BraveDave As was mentioned on reddit, there's a whole lot more wrong than that, but that's a good one too.
      Artists... what can I say? :)

    • @BraveDave
      @BraveDave 2 роки тому +1

      @@torjones1701 Yeah, I'm concerned with how dark the Sun is; like it's being eclipsed. Maybe that's why the Earth hasn't been burnt up! Also you can see distant stars to the side of it. I'm pretty sure that if I stared at the Sun right now I wouldn't be able to see the space behind it, and that's without it even taking up 50% of the sky! But I'll go and check anyway. Just off to go stare at the Sun BRB