Speaker 0:  for decades, nuclear fusion rockets were confined to the pages of science fiction and whiteboard theories. yesterday, pulsar fusion ignited a miniature sun in a lab and effectively rewrote the physics of deep space travel. fusion rocket achieves the first plasma. uk pulsar fusion successfully generated a confined plasma in their sunbird exhaust system, validating physics of their dual direct fusion drive. this reusable space tug system uses magnetic fields to contain stellar level heat generating both immense thrust and electrical power. this technology mathematically cuts time travel to mars in half and provides enough onboard electricity to make deep space, habitation, and asteroid mining a physical reality. what do you think about this, john?

Speaker 1:  i think this is cool, but hold on. this isn't the same. it's similar to nuclear fusion, but they're they're not creating a sun. they're creating a fuel, in they're they're heating fuel, like, which is hydrogen isotopes into plasma, forcing the atomic nuclear to fuse, and then releasing that energy. they're not capturing the enter like, they're not trying to contain it. right? they're expelling it, which is different.

Speaker 0:  correct.

Speaker 1:  yeah. so yeah. so we're not shooting out these miniature suns. we're just we're using fusion technology to, to propel ourselves, which is super, super cool. i absolutely love this. so the engine called sunbird is designed as part of this future spacecraft concept known as migratory transfer vehicle. so chemical rockets, what artemis two uses and all this sort of stuff, they burn fuel explosively for short bursts. whereas fusion rockets, they can, they're aiming for continuous sustained thrust, which in which will enable faster acceleration over long durations and much higher efficiency. so in theory, it could allow spacecraft achieve, to reach higher speeds and travel deeper in space with less fuel. but, again, we gotta think about what's gonna be the impact on on humans and all that sort of stuff. but as we know, because we've covered nuclear fusion, fusion produces far more energy per unit mass than chemical reactions in potentially orders of magnitude higher efficiency. so the biggest technological hurdle that they have right now is keeping the plasma stable and contained because plasma is extremely hot and unstable you know, and it must be confined using magnetic fields. so the fact that pulsar fusion achieved a controlled plasma generation and confinement within the engine, that means they've crossed a major engineering threshold, which is super, super cool, super interesting. what do you think about this? do you think they're on the right path? do you think that this is, this is a viable potential technology for space travel?

Speaker 0:  well, we're gonna know soon. diagnostic tests scale up in june 2026 where they're gonna be testing the langmuir probes, retarding potential analyzers, advanced superconducting magnets, for this upcoming test and with anticipated in orbit demonstrations in 2027. so we're a year away potentially of them testing this in orbit. think of this update like a high speed locomotive for the solar system. you don't use a massive freight train to back out of your driveway. you use a standard car to get to the station and then hit your car go to the train and let its incredible efficient high powered engine blast you across the continent. so sunbird stays in orbit, grabs traditional chemically launched spacecraft, and hauls them across the solar system at speeds we've never seen. so it sounds great, but the cost is a trillion dollar infrastructure. you know, seems, to promise low emission cost by driving a 20 to 50% reduction in delta b requirements for payloads. but i guess you have to think that we're gonna be doing a lot of work to get this investment on your dollar back, john.

Speaker 1:  absolutely. yeah. but here's the thing is i think the real breakthrough, it's not fusion. it's that they're controlling plasma in a propulsion system. so, this is essentially the same bottleneck that slowed fusion energy for decades, but, this validates decades of theory where fusion rockets have been theoretical for decades and considered impractical, to be honest. so this experiment is showing that we're transitioning from theory to engineering, which, like we said like you said, it's gonna cost trillions of dollars in infrastructure and all that sort of stuff. but think about it like this. i think we're we're at plasma or fusion engines where we were with early jet engine prototypes in the nineteen thirties. do you think that's about accurate?

Speaker 0:  yeah. i think so. like, there's a lot of experimentation going on now around what's gonna take us to the stars. we've seen, i can't remember at the time, the blast, blast, blast, blast, blast, blast explosion we talked about a few weeks ago, that they're trying to con the constant acceleration to achieve higher speeds. if you can use that technology and this together, obviously, you know, we're heading towards the stars faster than we think. elon has already redirected his efforts to the moon having, basically the same thought saying it's so much easier to launch from the moon than from the earth. so we might as well build the station there, get all the resources there where we can build everything, and then everything going to mars passes, you know, stops at the moon, and then so the concept is there. it sounds like a lot of people are on board with space travel, and money is going like crazy. we are running out. i say running out. we have limited resources on the planet earth, and so much of these resources are out there saying that this is well worth, the trillion dollar investment just to start getting out there to being able to bring resources back and stuff. so i think, yes, this is, you know, the electrical power is two megawatts continuous output. 10,000 to 15,000, seconds is the specific impulse, and the exhaust velocity is 98 to a 147 kilometers per second up to 33 times faster than chemical rockets. yeah. the dual direct fusion drive utilizes an anneutronic fusion reaction combining deutronic and helium three. speaking of the moon, helium three is abundant there. systems rely on high temperature superconducting magnets to create a magnetic bottle confining the ultra hot plasma while selectively allowing it to escape through a magnetic nozzle to generate the thrust. so, you know, helium three, the ideal fuel for the, how do you say that? the nautical reaction?

Speaker 1:  yeah. i think so.

Speaker 0:  because it's because it produces fewer, degrading neurons. it's incredibly rare on earth but abundant on the moon. this makes sunbird the ultimate catalyst for lunar mining. we gotta get up there to do it. pulse surf fusion chose to livestream this historic first plasma milestone directly to jeff bezos, highly exclusive invitation only mars conference heavily heavily hitting a back channel synergies with origins, orbital in, infrastructure plan. so maybe there's some back end deals there. and it has direct funding from the uk space agency and the european space agency agency, signaling a major international effort to break the us monopoly on next gen propulsion in space. i love it. yeah. so sunberg just proved that fusion propulsion is no longer a theoretical physics problem. it is now strictly an engineering execute execution challenge. are we actually ready for nuclear fusion engines in earth's orbit, or does the radiation and complexity risk make you nervous? let us know in the chat.