So fusion fans, there are two new ways to see DFD explored as fusion propulsion in the popular media:
- The Living Universe documentary series now on Curiosity Stream
- “The Enceladus Mission” novel now in English from Amazon
The Living Universe is both a feature film for IMAX theaters and now a four-part documentary series. We blogged about our interviews in January and the series is now available on Curiosity Stream, a service dedicated to documentaries! Episode 2,”The Explorers” features a segment on DFD narrated by PSS engineer Stephanie Thomas, in addition to discussing plasma and antimatter propulsion. Here is an article about the series from Broadway World. You need to sign up for an account on Curiosity Stream to watch, which is free for 7 days and then $3 per month.
“The Encedalus Mission” by internationally best-selling hard science fiction author Brandon Q. Morris was originally written in German, and features the DFD as the propulsion technology on a mission to study newly detected life in the Saturn system; an array of six DFDs power the spaceship. Early reviews are favorable! The book is available in paperback or for Kindle.
Send us a comment and tell us what you think if you watch the show or read the book!
Read the book and I am reading the sequel. Not bad.
Very interested in DFD, is there a possible time line for a Prototype and possible Working space rated Engine. I hope this doesn’t turn out live Nerva in the 60’s and early 70’s when I was a kid.
Anything you can provide on a timeline would be appreciated even a ball park hopeful estimate.
Thanks for the comment! Nerva lost its primary missions when Apollo was cancelled and NASA focused on Shuttle rather than the Moon or Mars. A rough timeline would be 10-15 years for an operational DFD engine. Possibly faster if our funding was higher. The nice thing about this technology is that we don’t have to deal with radioactive materials during development. This dramatically lowers the development cost.