Magnetic sail significant in the long term. In typical magnetic sail designs, the magnetic field is generated by a loop of superconducting wire. Because loops of current-carrying conductors tend to be forced outwards towards a circular shape by their own magnetic field, the sail could be deployed simply by unspooling the conductor and applying a current through it. The solar wind is a continuous stream of plasma that flows outwards from the Sun: near the Earth's orbit, it contains several million protons and electrons per cubic meter and flows at . The magnetic sail introduces a magnetic field into this plasma flow
Aneutronic fusion suggest a petawatt-scale laser pulse could launch an ‘avalanche’ fusion reaction. The plasma lasts about one-billionth of a second, requiring the pulse of protons, which lasts one-trillionth of a second, to be precisely synchronized. Unlike conventional methods this approach does not require the plasma to be magnetically confined. The proton beam is preceded by a beam of electrons, generated by the same laser, that pushes away electrons in the boron plasma, allowing the protons more of a chance to collide with the boron nuclei and initiate fusion. Detailed calculations show that at least 0.1% of the reactions in a thermal