电磁推进将如何工作

美国能源部（DOE）通常不在开发NASA的推进系统的业务中固态开关es。In the mid-1990s, Goodwin chaired a session for NASA's Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Project, which is working to design propulsion systems that have no propellant, use a very high energy system and can eventually overcome inertia.

古德温说：“似乎应该有某种方法来使用这项技术来帮助NASA实现他们的目标，这基本上就是这样。”DOE研究中爆发的是Goodwin的想法，即使用超冷的超导磁铁振动每秒400,000次的超冷导向磁铁的想法。如果该快速脉冲可以朝一个方向引导，则可以创建一个非常有效的空间推进系统，能够以1％的比例达到速度光速。

在前100个纳秒（十亿分之一）中，电磁体加速，电磁体在A中non-steady state这使其能够非常迅速地脉动。升高后，磁场到达稳态，没有脉冲发生。古德温描述了他用作的电磁体电磁阀, which is basically a superconducting magnetic wire wrapped around a metal cylinder. The entire structure will have a diameter of 1 foot (30.5 cm), a height of 3 feet (91.4 cm) and a weight of 55.12 pounds (25 kg). The wire used for this propulsion system is aniobium-tin alloy。这些线链中的几个将包裹在电缆中。然后将该电磁体用液氦超过4度开尔文（-452.47 f / -269.15 c）。

For the magnet to vibrate, you need to cause an asymmetry in the magnetic field. Goodwin plans to deliberately introduce a金属板into the magnetic field to enhance the vibrating movement. This plate would be made of either copper, aluminum or铁。The aluminum and copper plates are better conductors and have a greater effect on the magnetic field. The plate would be charged up and isolated from the system to create theasymmetry。然后，将板在磁铁沿相反方向振荡之前的几微秒（百万分之一）中排出。

"Now, the catch here is, can we use this non-steady state condition in such a way that it only moves in one direction?" Goodwin said. "And that's where it's very uncertain that that can be done. That's why we would like to do an experiment to find out." Together with the cooperation of波音，古德温（Goodwin）正在寻求NASA的资金进行此类实验。

The key to the system is the固态开关that would mediate the electricity being sent from the power supply to the electromagnet. This switch basically turns the electromagnet on and off 400,000 times per second. A solid-state switch looks something like an oversized computer chip -- imagine amicroprocessor大约是冰球的大小。它的工作是采用稳态功率，并将其转换为非常快速，高功率的脉冲，每秒在30安培和9,000伏特中转换为400,000次。

In the next section, you'll learn where the system draws its power from and how it may send future spacecraft beyond our solar system.

The U.S. Department of Energy also is working on plans for a核space reactor for NASA. Goodwin believes that this reactor could be used to power the electromagnetic-propulsion system. The DOE is working to secure funding from NASA, and a 300-kilowatt reactor could be ready by 2006. The propulsion system would be configured to convert the thermal power generated by the reactor into electric power.

"For deep space,火星除此之外，如果要移动任何质量，您几乎需要核能。”古德温说。

反应器将通过诱导的过程产生动力核裂变, which generates energy by splitting原子（例如铀235原子）。当单个原子分裂时，它会释放大量的热量和gamma radiation。One pound (0.45 kg) of highly enriched uranium, like that used to power a nuclearsubmarineor nuclear aircraft carrier, is equal to about 1 million gallons (3.8 million liters) of gasoline. One pound of uranium is only about the size of a baseball, so it could power a spacecraft for long periods of time without taking up much room on it. This kind of nuclear-powered, electromagnetically propelled spacecraft would be able to traverse incredibly large distances.

来自核反应堆的热能可以转化为电力以供电航天器。

"You couldn't make it to the nearest star, but you could look at missions to the heliopause," Goodwin said. "If it worked extremely well, it could hit speeds of a fraction of 1 percent of the speed of light. Even at that, it would take hundreds of years to reach the nearest star, which is still impractical."

TheHeliopause是太阳风从sunmeets the interstellar solar wind created by the other星星。It is located about 200天文单位（AU）来自太阳（Heliopause的确切位置是未知的）。一个AU等于从太阳到地球的平均距离，约为9300万英里（1.5亿公里）。为了进行比较，冥王星是太阳的39.53 au。

In order to move people, a much larger device would have to be built, but the 1-foot diameter, 3-foot-tall electromagnetic could push small, unmanned spacecraft like an interstellar probe to very far distances. The system is very efficient, according to Goodwin, and it puts a lot of power through a超导体。问题是科学家是否可以在不破坏磁铁的情况下将这种力量转换为推进。快速振动可能会使磁铁的强度边缘。

这种系统的怀疑论者说，所有古德温都将完成的所有工作都是非常迅速地振动磁铁，但不会走到任何地方。古德温承认，尚无证据表明他的推进系统将起作用。古德温说：“这是高度投机性的，在我最乐观的日子里，我认为10中有一个机会可能起作用。”当然，100年前，人们认为我们根本没有到达太空的机会。