Z-Pinch Techniques
Z-Pinch Techniques — Terra Invicta technology. Our spacecraft become capable of dramatically-increased thrust by using electricity alone to trigger a sust…
About Z-Pinch Techniques
Z-Pinch Techniques is a Terra Invicta technology in Energy with a research cost of 50,000.
Our spacecraft become capable of dramatically-increased thrust by using electricity alone to trigger a sustained fusion reaction.
Zeta-pinch, or z-pinch for short, involves passing an electrical current through plasma to generate an internal magnetic field, which pulls its particles towards each other - in effect, compressing the plasma. This is far from a new discovery, but the technique is of specific interest now because, if the plasma is made from fusion fuel, a sufficient degree of compression will trigger a self-sustaining thermonuclear fusion reaction. A spacecraft's magnetic nozzle can then safely convert this immense energy into far greater thrust than any chemical propulsion could possibly achieve. At least in theory: this technique has been impossible to achieve previously due to the wildly unstable nature of plasma, which moves so rapidly and so unpredictably that only a limited amount of it will undergo fusion, meaning the reaction cannot be sustained for long. So it is a recent breakthrough in plasma stabilization that makes Z-Pinch-based thrusters feasible at last. By applying principles of fluid dynamics - essentially, forcing the plasma flow in a given direction - our scientists have been able to stabilize a z-pinch for several thousand times longer. In addition, the z-pinch method removes the need for large and heavy coils to generate magnetic fields, thus reducing the craft's overall mass, which in turn also means traveling further and faster through space.