Summary:
With the growing desire to push past our
boundaries in space, it has become necessary to look towards a new means of
propulsion. Currently used propulsion systems, such as chemicals
propellants, are too heavy and bulky for a long distance missions. The
remaining alternatives, ion and nuclear propulsion, are also ineffective in
terms of the ratio of energy output to quantity required
Current research in the field
of antimatter propulsion, more specifically antiproton annihilation, shows
the energy output of antimatter is significantly greater than that of other
leading propellants. Antimatter propulsion has a near 1 to 1 ratio of mass
to energy transfer; hence, a spacecraft powered by antimatter requires less
storage volume than the typical spacecraft. Research also shows that
compared to other systems, antimatter propulsion has fewer hazardous
byproducts and waste materials. In theory, the use of an antimatter
propulsion system would allow for deep space missions and lighter
spacecrafts.
All research on antimatter
propulsion is presently in small-scaled testing and strictly theoretical
states. It is now necessary to develop and test a full-scale antimatter
propulsion system to determine whether antimatter is a plausible answer to
propel spacecraft into deep space. Limiting the scientific exploration of
this field is the need for up-to-date facilities and the need for the state
of the art technology. With this in mind, it is our recommendation that the
United States Air Force begin working on the production and testing of an
antimatter propulsion system because of the Air Force’s ability to provide
for monetary expenses and its full-scale high-tech facilities.
