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A year in orbit: ISS deployment tests radiation detectors for future space missions
The predawn darkness on a cool Florida night was shattered by the ignition of nine Merlin engines on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The thrust of the engines shook the ground miles away. From a distance, the rocket appeared to slowly rise above the horizon. For the cargo onboard, the launch was anything but gentle, as the ignition of liquid oxygen generated more than 1.5 million pounds of force. After the rocket had been out of sight for several minutes, the booster dramatically returned to Earth with several sonic booms in a captivating show of engineering designed to make space travel less expensive and more sustainable.
J. Chin, T. Ohkawa
Nuclear Technology | Volume 32 | Number 2 | February 1977 | Pages 115-124
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT77-A31717
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The feasibility of in situ regeneration of a deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion reactor first wall is explored. Chemical and physical vapor deposition processes are considered for applying low-Z materials and metals. Trial deposits of carbon, SiC, Si3N4, and (Si, Al)N were prepared by one or both of these fabrication techniques. Material properties such as chemical composition, impurity concentration, morphology, and crystal structure thought to be important in first wall performance were found to be controllable by the vapor deposition process conditions. Chemical composition of the gas mixtures, substrate temperature, and deposition pressures were parameters that influenced material properties in all vapor deposition processes. These parameters may be expected to be controllable in a D-T fusion reactor chamber. Temperature can be adjusted within the plasma zone by a glow discharge. The chemical composition of the reactant gases can be controllable by an auxiliary gas supply and exhaust systems. Gas pressure control within the reactor is a required feature of any fusion reactor system. In situ regeneration of the fusion first wall by vapor deposition processes thus appears feasible.