-Caveat Lector- Mark, You're in luck. I contacted Mark LeCuyer and he still had a copy of the anti-matter article. Hilary Together We Create Heaven on Earth [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: Mark LeCuyer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tuesday, December 15, 1998 8:17 PM Subject: Antimatter research at Marshall Hello Hilary:) I posted this one back on Aug. 29, 1998. I'm not sure if this is the one you're looking for or not. I hope it helps. Mark ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Source: The Huntsville Times August 25, 1998 by JAMES McWILLIAMS Times Technology Writer Antimatter research at Marshall bringing 'Star Trek' technology closer to real life The technology that fuels the Starship Enterprise on ''Star Trek could power real-life exploration of interstellar space, say officials at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center. On ''Star Trek, powerful antimatter fuel pushes the starships engines to warp speeds - faster than the speed of light. Marshall scientists are now working on antimatter research that could help propel rockets at 0.3 percent of the speed of light by 2020, according to Gerald Smith, a researcher on the project. Thats about 560 miles per second - more than 2 million mph - within the range of the Enterprises pre-warp ''impulse-power speed. Such speed is still too slow for humans to travel to other star systems in a normal lifetime (unless astronauts could somehow be frozen in suspended animation). But satellites powered by antimatter could explore vast areas of space much faster than now, said George Schmidt, chief of propulsion research at Marshall. Antimatter can produce 100 times more energy than nuclear fusion, and without producing radioactive waste, Schmidt said. Thus, a small amount of antimatter could safely propel a spacecraft much faster and farther than a comparable amount of traditional rocket fuel. Marshall needs less than $10 million to prove the viability of antimatter propulsion, although creating an antimatter-powered spacecraft would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, said Schmidt. So far, Marshall has spent $200,000 on antimatter research with Smith. Antimatter is a substance made of subatomic particles that have characteristics, such as electrical charges, that are the opposite of what normally occurs in the known universe. Atoms of normal matter include positively charged protons orbited by negatively charged electrons. Antimatter has negatively charged antiprotons orbited by positively charged positrons. Because of the differences between antimatter and matter, they normally cancel each other out when they come into contact. Matter and antimatter annihilate each other, producing energy. Although part of the energy comes in the form of gamma rays, it leaves no radioactive residue, said Smith. Because the matter and antimatter annihilate each other in a mere moment, they leave behind no waste. Researchers are working to channel antimatter energy for a variety of purposes, including propulsion, welding, tumor removal and medical imaging. Physicians already use antimatters positrons to make a type of medical image called positron emission tomography, or PET scanning, which closely tracks individual metabolic processes, Smith said. Smith, a physics professor from Penn State University, has worked at Marshall this summer on an antimatter-containment project that he and colleagues from his school designed. Smith has built a device capable of capturing 10 billion antiprotons in a ''trap and holding them for four days. Within a year, Smith expects to be finished building a mobile trap that can capture a trillion antiprotons, store them for 10 days, and transport the antiprotons around the country for experiments. Someday, advanced traps could be the fuel tanks for spacecraft. The current traps hold antimatter produced in synchrotrons at federal laboratories. A synchrotron, a type of ''atom smasher, is a device that accelerates atoms or subatomic particles until they crash into one another and create new types of particles. The energy from these crashes can produce antimatter. Storing antimatter is tricky. Because antimatter and matter destroy each other on contact, scientists cant simply stuff antimatter into shopping bags. The bags and their contents would immediately destroy each other. So, Smiths trap levitates the antimatter inside a magnetic field that won't let matter and antimatter touch. In an interesting parallel of science fiction and science fact, the Starship Enterprise also keeps its antimatter in magnetic fields, according to the book ''Star Trek Concordance, by Bjo Trimble. However, the Enterprises engines manage their antimatter fuel by using a fictitious technology called ''dilithium crystals, said Smith. Once antimatter is safely contained, it proves to be a relatively compact energy source. A trillion antiprotons weigh a little more than one three-trillionth of an ounce. If all those antiprotons were laid side by side in a straight line, they would be only a millimeter long, but far too thin to see with the naked eye or even with an electron microscope. But Smiths trap cant store the antiprotons in a small straight line. The antiprotons electrical charges repel each other. Identical charges repel, and opposites attract, just as identical poles of magnets repel each other and opposite poles attract. The closer the antiprotons get to one another, the stronger their charges become. So, Smiths trap gives antiprotons plenty of room to separate. The antiprotons spread into a sausage-shaped cloud 20 centimeters long and two centimeters wide. The governments Fermi National Laboratory near Chicago could be modified to fill Smiths trap with antimatter whenever needed. That will allow scientists to continue developing antimatter technologies. Smith is negotiating with Fermi to gain its help. Although antimatter rockets are decades away, Smith sees short-term benefits of antimatter research. Antimatter traps could make PET scans and other medical procedures available in many more places. PET scans are available only in hospitals in the largest cities of the nation, and in experimental hospitals that have their own atom smashers, called cyclotrons, Smith said. The scans require radioactive isotopes that decay within minutes, and thus are difficult to transport. Smith said he wants to use trapped antimatter to create the isotopes at a patients bedside. Another antimatter technology that could be available soon is a plasma gun that fires ion gases heated by antiprotons, said Smith. Such a gun wouldnt be intended to be a weapon, but would instead use ions to etch computer circuits into silicon wafers. The plasma gun would be portable, and would thus let small laboratories and roving maintenance workers make computer repairs that are difficult today. The plasma gun would actually be similar to a small antimatter rocket, Smith said. The plasma guns muzzle and the rockets exhaust both would propel energy. So, work on the gun could improve ideas for rockets. Before scientists develop a rocket fueled solely by antimatter, they will probably build a rocket fueled by nuclear-fusion reactions sparked by antimatter, said Smith. A single milligram of antimatter could hold as much energy as all the fuel in the main, 180-foot-tall fuel tank on the space shuttle, but producing antimatter is a slow process, said Schmidt. Todays synchrotrons would require at least 10 years to produce a milligram of antimatter, said Smith. Some scientists believe the process could take longer. So, using antimatter to spark nuclear fusion is a more viable technology for the near term. Nuclear fusion, unlike the nuclear fission used in current power plants, is a fairly clean source of power, because the radiation fades quickly, said Smith. � 1998 The Huntsville Times. Used with permission. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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