Re: 100 megaton bombs atop Saturn V rockets

From: Derek Lyons (fairwater_at_gmail.com)
Date: 07/20/04 

Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 16:46:38 GMT

"Paul F. Dietz" <dietz@dls.net> wrote:
>Allen Thomson wrote:
>
>> FWIW, a while back there was discussion of such matters on
>> alt.war.nuclear, and the conclusion generally agreed with yours:
>> a touch more than 10 kt/kg seems to be within the state of the art,
>> but not more. At least for more or less conventional large two/
>> multi-stage weapons.
>
>A 'sufficiently large' device should be able to do better, I think,
>since it could be made to work without compression.

Without compression? Huh?

>In the limit of extreme size the device mass would be dominated by
>the mass of fusion fuel.

Probably not, a) because fusion fuel is pretty light, and b) because
the real yield multiplier is the final fission step of the
fission-fusion-fission cycle. The third step is often deemphasized in
order to reduce the weight and volume of a warhead and to make it
'cleaner' by getting the bulk of it's yield from fusion.

When designing an 'extreme' weapon for asteroid defense, this last
consideration clearly does not apply.

D. 

-- 
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: 100 megaton bombs atop Saturn V rockets
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  • Re: 100 megaton bombs atop Saturn V rockets
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  • Re: 100 megaton bombs atop Saturn V rockets
    ... >>since it could be made to work without compression. ... Super" the scheme for a self-sustaining combustion wave in uncompressed ... > Probably not, a) because fusion fuel is pretty light, and b) because ... cryotank of liquid deuterium, like the Saturn upper stage or the Shuttle ...
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  • Re: 100 megaton bombs atop Saturn V rockets
    ... >>since it could be made to work without compression. ... to be made even higher (by reducing the energy lost to the ... If the fuel is thick enough the fusion neutrons will also deposit ... > Probably not, a) because fusion fuel is pretty light, and b) because ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: 100 megaton bombs atop Saturn V rockets
    ... >>since it could be made to work without compression. ... to be made even higher (by reducing the energy lost to the ... If the fuel is thick enough the fusion neutrons will also deposit ... > Probably not, a) because fusion fuel is pretty light, and b) because ...
    (sci.space.history)