Is Antimatter Rocket possible?
Have you ever imagined a future where humans would explore space with spaceships powered by antimatter? Of course, many people will call this a utopian dream. However, some scientists have already proven the theoretical possibility of an antimatter rocket.
Aside from the theoretical findings, can we actually develop and use antimatter rockets in the future? Continue reading to learn about the possibilities of humankind developing antimatter rockets soon.
What is an Antimatter rocket?
An antimatter rocket is a special type of rocket that will be built to travel space using antimatter as its primary source of power. Developing such a futuristic rocket will require a lot of technological advancement from human civilization.
Unlike most rocket ideas ever proposed by humans, the antimatter rocket will be advanced enough to convert matter or antimatter mixture into an energy source. This energy-converting capability will enable the antimatter rockets to possess a greater energy density and reach greater distances faster.
Eugen Sänger, a Bohemian-Austrian-German-French aeronautical engineer, futurist, and scientist proposed the idea of an antimatter rocket toward the end of the 1950s.
Sänger suggests that the destruction of matter with antimatter will lead to the development of an antimatter rocket engine. However, future humans will likely follow a different approach to creating antimatter rockets.
Methods Humans Will Deploy to Build Antimatter Rockets
Developing antimatter rockets appears quite impossible in recent times because of several challenges including the unavailability of antimatter. Even though we cannot create antimatter in abundance in the 21st century, scientists have proposed three unique applicable methods our descendants will use to develop and power antimatter rockets in the future.
The antimatter propulsion system that deploys these types of antimatter rockets is classified into four categories including, solid core, gaseous core, beamed core, and plasma core configuration. Scientists have also suggested hybrid solutions as different options for direct antimatter annihilation.
However, some of these ideas will be explored further in the future. For now, let us focus on the three main types of antimatter propulsion.
Pure Antimatter Rocket
This advanced type of antimatter rocket uses antimatter annihilation directly for propulsion. Hence, pure Antimatter rockets cannot do with annihilation reaction products. Generally, scientists subdivided antimatter annihilation into two groups including Antiproton annihilation and Positron annihilation.
Antiproton annihilation involves using an annihilation reaction to generate charged and uncharged poins, neutrinos, and gamma rays. The engineers behind the production can use a magnetic nozzle to channel the charged pions and generate thrust.
Hence, the antimatter rocket engine is designed to operate using a beamed core configuration. Even though it would exist as a powerful rocket, it would not be highly efficient. Antimatter rockets that operate using antiproton annihilation would lose energy at different stages.
As for positron annihilation, it will be made to create only gamma rays. When Eugen Sänger was making his first proposals about antimatter rockets, he used this type of rocket engineering to describe the possibility of humans developing an antimatter rocket in the future.
Sänger noted that antimatter rockets could be possible if humans could use some material with the capabilities of reflecting gamma rays, which can be used as a light sail to propel thrust from the annihilation reaction.
Thermal antimatter rocket
A thermal antimatter rocket is a unique type of antimatter rocket that generates energy or heat from the annihilation created to produce an exhaust from propellant.
This type usually heats up a working fluid to generate fuel for propulsion. Hence, scientists working on this project will figure out how to use heat to extract antimatter fuel from an intermediate material.
Antimatter power generation
The third type of antimatter rocket is antimatter power generation. This type uses antimatter to power the propulsion system of an electric space vehicle. The type of space vehicle that would use this futuristic power generation will be similar to the type proposed for a nuclear thermal rocket.
In this type of antimatter rocket, annihilations are deployed for heating a working fluid directly or indirectly just like in a nuclear thermal rocket. However, unlike the thermal rocket, the fluid in antimatter power generation is used to produce electricity.
The generated electricity is then transferred to energize the electric space propulsion system for deep space exploration.
Challenges of Developing Antimatter Rocket
Scientists are yet to develop antimatter rocket engines because of several challenges. However, despite these limitations, researchers are making efforts to create antimatter in laboratories on Earth. However, their efforts are not making enough impact because of these challenges.
1. Expensive to produce
The production process of antimatter requires enough energy. Hence, sophisticated particle accelerators are needed to produce the desired amount of energy. The difficulty in producing antimatter made it so expensive. With all our technological advancement, our scientists have managed to produce particle accelerators that can only generate nanograms of antimatter annually.
2. Large Scale Application
The quantity of antimatter that we can produce at the moment is quite too small. Hence, we have not advanced enough to produce antimatter in large quantities for interstellar travel. With the rate at which we are progressing in developing antimatter rocket propellant, it might take our kind centuries to perfect this engineering.
3. Storage of generated antimatter
If we manage to solve the worries of producing antimatter in large quantities, storing it would be another challenge. Scientists revealed that storing antimatter is difficult as it can only be kept in a vacuum. Antimatter cannot be stored in the same place as regular matter. Hence, future scientists and engineers must design special storage systems to store antimatter in the future.
4. Annihilation
If we commence with antimatter production for space exploration, space agencies working on this futuristic project will have to apply extra measures as antimatter and matter can easily annihilate whenever they come in contact.
This annihilation can release an excess amount of energy that can destroy places. Scientists estimate the amount of energy to be released from this annihilation to be highly greater than the energy released by Hiroshima’s atomic bomb.
Of course, this can happen accidentally. Hence, space agencies working on this type of antimatter rocket must consider putting safety measures to prevent a devastating outcome.