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Plasma Core Rocket Engines

General Physics 2025-10-10 v1

Abstract

The basic physics for plasma core rocket engines was already completed in 1985. At the time successful containment of a fissioning uranium hexafluoride U(93%)F6 plasma was achieved for ~120 seconds using an argon vortex. Unfortunately, hydrodynamic confinement of a fissioning fuel in a gas core nuclear rocket without uranium loss is probably unachievable. This article proposes a plasma core that is magnetically contained and uses one of many possible stable force-free magnetic field configurations.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2510.07339,
  title  = {Plasma Core Rocket Engines},
  author = {Gerald E. Marsh},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.07339},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

10 pages, 2 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T06:24:44.468Z