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  1. Newsgroups: sci.space
  2. Path: sparky!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!saimiri.primate.wisc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cis.ohio-state.edu!news.sei.cmu.edu!bb3.andrew.cmu.edu!crabapple.srv.cs.cmu.edu!rcs@cs.arizona.edu
  3. From: rcs@cs.arizona.edu (Richard Schroeppel)
  4. Subject: *** BUSSARD RAMSCOOP ***
  5. Message-ID: <C0Jv2M.74z.1@cs.cmu.edu>
  6. X-Added: Forwarded by Space Digest
  7. Sender: news+@cs.cmu.edu
  8. Organization: [via International Space University]
  9. Original-Sender: isu@VACATION.VENARI.CS.CMU.EDU
  10. Distribution: sci
  11. Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 19:14:36 GMT
  12. Approved: bboard-news_gateway
  13. Lines: 9
  14.  
  15. Since fusing protons is so hard, why not use deuterons?
  16. They fuse at a lower temperature, and the reaction only
  17. requires regrouping the nucleons, rather than invoking the
  18. weak force to transmute p->n.  The Earth's d/p ratio is ~.0001.
  19. Perhaps the ramscoop collector could selectively enrich d,
  20. by selecting for atoms having a magnetic moment.
  21.  
  22. Rich Schroeppel  rcs@cs.arizona.edu
  23.  
  24.