MagBeam
MagBeam ( Magnetized-beam plasma propulsion or magnetized plasma jet propulsion ) is the name for a theoretical recoil system in space travel . The current work of Professor Robert M. Winglee at the Earth and Space Sciences Department at the University of Washington in Seattle ( Washington ) inspired. The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) took up this after Winglee presented the concept at an annual NIAC congress in 2005. The student Andrew Bingham at Clarkson University in Clarkson ( New York ) received a grant from the NIAC for his work on the MagBeam.
The approach is based on the idea that ion drives , MOA or similar propulsion technologies on board a spacecraft can only develop a small amount of thrust and therefore have to be accelerated over a very long period of time. This makes the engines rather unsuitable for future manned space flights to more distant destinations, such as Mars or the Saturn moon Titan . If you wanted to achieve greater thrust, significantly heavier engines and a larger support mass would be required. However, this has a negative effect on the size of the vehicle, which, however, would again require greater thrust. This dilemma can be avoided by separating the drive from the vehicle, a strategy that is also pursued with the Lightcraft concept, but with the MagBeam with more manageable energy consumption. With the MagBeam, the driving beam is to be generated in space stations ; according to the concept, possible locations of such stations are an Earth orbit and a Saturn orbit. A grounded drive unit is not conceivable, as this type of drive only works in a vacuum .
The original idea of the drive comes from the science fiction novel " Mote in God's Eye " by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle , which was first published in 1975 in the English original edition.