We are very pleased to announce that Ms. Stephanie Thomas of Princeton Satellite Systems has been selected to be a 2016 NIAC Fellow. This Phase I study, entitled “Fusion-Enabled Pluto Orbiter and Lander,” will explore the possibility of using Direct Fusion Drive (DFD) to deliver an orbiter to Pluto complete with a lander. DFD is a fusion propulsion concept built upon a small, clean field-reversed configuration fusion reactor with a naturally linear geometry. The reactor becomes a rocket engine when additional propellant flows through, providing power as well as propulsion in one integrated device. This engine could halve the transit time to Pluto to 5 years from the nearly 10 years needed for New Horizons, while delivering 1000 kg worth of payload into orbit and providing up to 2 MW of power. This will enable remarkable data collection such as high-definition video and drilling into the planet’s surface. The technology provides a path to terrestrial fusion as well as eventual human missions across the entire solar system. The Phase I study will focus on creating higher fidelity models of the engine performance to enable optmization of possible mission trajectories and better quantification of the predicted specific power.

From the NASA NIAC website, “The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program nurtures visionary ideas that could transform future NASA missions with the creation of breakthroughs — radically better or entirely new aerospace concepts — while engaging America’s innovators and entrepreneurs as partners in the journey.” NIAC is also a community. Fellows come together regularly to discuss their work, give a midterm presentation, and openly share their results. This openness is key to the NIAC culture. The diverse interchange is highly beneficial to the studies and to NASA.

For more information:

• NASA NIAC 2016 Selections
• Direct Fusion Drive (DFD) webpage
• PFRC inventor Dr. Sam Cohen
  • Princeton Field-Reversed Reactor (PFRC) technical papers
• NIAC Fellow Ms. Stephanie Thomas

Princeton Satellite Systems was founded in 1992 by Michael Paluszek to develop advanced technology for the aerospace and energy industries. Its product lines include aerospace software, spacecraft hardware, spacecraft flight control systems and terrestrial solar power systems.