Is Polywell fusion the cure for Peak oil and Global warming? Listen tonite thespaceshow.com

[FogerRox]

Tom Ligon sets up his demonstration IEC fusion machine, November 1998.

Listen tonight @ 10pm eastern.

Tom Ligon will be will be the featured guest tonight on http://www.thespaceshow.com/

1. The Tuesday, May 8, 2007 Space Show from 7-8:30 PM Pacific Daylight Time welcomes Thomas Ligon to the show. Tom Ligon is a science fiction author and a former employee of Dr. Robert W. Bussard's Energy/Matter Conversion Corporation. Tom will discuss Dr. Bussard's unique method for producing fusion, called Inertial Electrodynamic Fusion. A prototype device was run successfully in late 2005, and could lead both to terrestrial powerplants and high performance space propulsion systems. Listeners can talk to Mr. Ligon or the host using toll free 1 [phone], by sending e-mail during the program using [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], or chatting on AOL/ICQ/CompuServe Chat using the screen name “spaceshowchat.”

Please watch and pass this around: IEC Fusion for Dummies video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiHsSAS_SQw


Dr Bussard is the former Assistant Director of the US Atomic Energy Commission, he was the father of the US Fusion effort from the 1970's into the 1980's. As the Assistant Dir. of the AEC, Dr. Bussard went to Congress and pushed the fusion research programs in the 70's that developed the Tokamak design.

Dr Bussard now advocates a different design. For the last 11 years he has been working under US Navy contracts, building small test devices.



WB4 in 2003. Yes, low levels of fusion can be created in a very small device.



WB6 in 2005. WB6 was run in steady state operation for a number of tests before a short stopped testing.

At the end of 2005, the Navy did not renew his contract. Since then Dr Bussard has given many lectures including the (famous in fusion circles) google tech talk of 2006.

Google Video here http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1996321846673788606

DR Bussard was awarded the International Academy of Science Outstanding technology of the Year for 2006, http://www.science.edu/TechoftheYear/TechoftheYear.htm

Why is this important? World oil production peaked in 2005
http://www.princeton.edu/hubbert/current-events.html

Dr Bussard says he can build a proof of concept reactor by about 2011. The ITER reactor in Europe will be finished by 2013, and the concept may be ready for power generation by 2025. The ITER is slated to cost 13.3 billion. More importantly $3 million keeps Dr. Bussard working. The next step is build variations on the 3 foot square WB6, to test tweaks in the design, before building a full size model. DR Bussard envisions the full size reactor core to be about 9 foot square. This means the cores can be mass produced and trucked or shipped by rail to generation sites.

When the father of modern fusion tells you the Tokamak wont work, he bears listening to. Funny thing about fusion, it occurs naturally in a sphere (the SUN), just like Dr Bussards design. The ITER reactor will try to create fusion in a donut or torus, which doesn't happen in nature. Its been pointed out to me that that is an oversimplification, yes it is, but I like it none the less.

Heres an overview of Bussards recent work with some really cool pictures.
http://www.askmar.com/ConferenceNotes/2006-9%20IAC%20Paper.pdf
This will give one a good sense of how the program has advanced over the years, and what to look forward to. Word had gotten around earlier this month that Dr. Bussard had received more funding thru the US Navy. This apparently is not true, Tom Ligon set that rumor straight: http://www.fusor.net/board/view.php?site=fusor&bn=fusor_historynews&key=1177038530

Dr. Bussard's website:
http://www.emc2fusion.org/

The 2007 International Space Development Conference

http://isdc.nss.org/2007/

(ISDA) will be held, May 25th thru the 28th, in Dallas Texas. Tom Ligon will be speaking on Sunday, about IEC/Polywell fusion and the potential for these devices to power space flight. This event is sponsored by NASA.

If the Navy could power its fleet with fusion, they wouldn't need very much oil, and if the need for oil went down dramatically, we wouldn't need that many Navy ships to help invade oil rich nations.

Right ?

[originalpckelly]

1. Thanks for the wonderful links...

I hadn't been able to find anything more than the Google video on my own! Thanks :hi:

Imagine these suckers powering a clean and fast evacuated tube Maglev to 4,000 mph!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vactrain

Zee power, zee power iz amazing!

[FogerRox]

3. Yeah I know, a star gazers wet dream

Great thread here

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=5367&start=451

[FogerRox]

4. Just posted @ KOS, Please REC if you have an account

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/8/181517/3478

[nam78_two]

2. Bookmarked. Thanks.nt

[FogerRox]

6. You got it, .....dont forget to check out the show tonight

[Kelly Rupert]

5. Probably not, but it would be nice.

[FogerRox]

14. How aout 40 days to Mars, one way?

[Melissa G]

7. On dial up or i would check it out but K&R for Foger anyway.n/t

[Sirveri]

8. While with my current knowledge I don't fully get p-b11 fusion...

I have seen many interesting articles extolling its virtues. Though personally I can't fathom a way that it makes sense from Q-value standpoint. Perhaps I just need to do the math myself to work it out.

[FogerRox]

9. Page 27 of the PDF "Q" gain

http://www.askmar.com/ConferenceNotes/2006-9%20IAC%20Paper.pdf

[bonito]

10. K&R n/t

[FogerRox]

12. DR Bussard called into the show, that was cool.

[nicknameless]

11. K&R

[FogerRox]

13. Thanks.

[FogerRox]

15. 2 minute vidoe.....Watch @ you tube or Download here

DL a .wmv file:

http://fogerrox.blip.tv/file/223363/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiHsSAS_SQw

[OKIsItJustMe]

16. Re: IEC Fusion for Dummies

It's helpful; however, if it's truly intended for "Dummies," I believe it would benefit from some narration.

[FogerRox]

17. Excellent point, I made it for Tom Ligon, to use at the Dallas conference

later this month. SO he didn't need the narration. But thats a good point, my next project likely be narrated.

[FogerRox]

18. kickin.....eom

[FogerRox]

19. Podcast from the show

Heres the Podcast....Go here, scroll down a bit, look for May 8th...
http://www.thespaceshow.com/