In V8, #221 of Space Digest, tektronix!sequent!mntgfx!mbutts@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (Mike Butts) writes:
"1) If particle accelerators are used to create the antimatter fuel in the
first place, on a production basis, would there be any advantage to siting
them in space, driven by solar power and taking advantage of the natural
vacuum? Would solar wind, cosmic rays, etc. interfere with the process?
If so, could reasonable shielding deal with that?"
If you are considering a toroidal accelerator, I should think that the solar
wind would be deflected perpendicularly to the plane of the accelerator via the
Lorentz force. Does anyone know the average velocity of particles in the solar
wind at 1AU? I shouldn't think it would be great enough to overcome the high
magnetic fields of the accelerator, but I could be wrong. Cosmic rays, on the
other hand, are very energetic and (I believe) isotropic. they might be a greater hazard. Perhaps a much larger shield can be used to stop the primary rays
down to the less energetic secondary radiation that could then be handled by
the magnetic fields of the accelerator.
I would worry more about interplanetary dust -- much more massive and not as
easily deflected -- interfering with that "natural vacuum."
Steve Abrams ARPANET: sedspace@doc.cc.utexas.edu
c/o Graduate Office CompuServe: [70376,1025]
Dept. of Physics (512)480-0895
University of Texas at
Austin OR
Austin, TX 78705 c/o Students for the Exploration and
Development of Space
"The rate of increase of P.O. Box 7338
the entropy of the 358 Texas Union
universe reaches its University of Texas at Austin
maximum value in my Austin, TX 78713-7883
immediate vicinity." (512)471-7097
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Date: 15 May 88 05:08:11 GMT
From: sonia!khayo@cs.ucla.edu (Eric Behr)
Subject: Night launch
(May 14, 9:00 pm PST)
I just saw a fabulous sight - most likely a launch from
VAB. My windows are facing +/- North, facing the canyons
of Santa Monica Mountains. A luminescent white cloud was
trailing behind a very bright object which moved due West
about 4 times as fast as a commercial jet (there were a
few in the area, on approach to LAX - those people must
have had a view...); of course the geometry of the whole
thing makes velocity comparisons meaningless. The shining
"ghost", which took up about 25 degrees of the horizon when
it was largest, was caused by thin clouds/fog hanging over
the coastal area (I saw another Vandenberg launch on a
cloudless night and it wasn't as spectacular as this one).
What puzzled me was that it continued to shine brightly
for about a minute after the vehicle left the cloud layer,
and only a faint glow of the exhaust was visible through
a spotting scope. It looked as if a very strong reflector
was pointed from the ground towards the rocket (at first
I thought that it was just that, maybe some rocket modellers,
but judging from the distance/apparent size it was something
on a much grander scale). Could it be ionized air? or what?
I hope to read something about it in tomorrow's paper.
