On Oct 20, 10:16 pm, Damon Hill wrote:
wrote in news:1192896019.769240.164780
@i38g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

More information on this hypthetical moonship.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_core_reactor_rocket

Right. Now all you have to do is actually build a gas
core engine.

Therein lies a substantial challenge.

--Damon

Correct. that's the rrub and the assumption.

However, consider that a counterflow toroidal system that treats the
flowing plasmas as a current loop with their own magnetic fields could
use combined magnetic and inertial forces to produce a rather light
weight containment with a beta ! - which has been achieved for
fusion, but when done for fissile materials result in 100 atm or more
pressure as opposed to 1/100th atm - and power densities are similarly
high.