Dear Mr. Krivit: This letter is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated September 22, 2011, to NASA Headquarters and forwarded to NASA Langley's FOIA office on October 13, 2011, from NASA Glenn's Research Center (GRC). Your request was for a copy the slides presented at the LENR Workshop held at GRC on September 22, 2011. Enclosed are copies of the two presentations presented by NASA Langley Research Center employees. This information is furnished under the provisions of the FOIA. The fees associated with the processing of your request are less than $15 and are not being charged in accordance with 14 CFR 1206.700(i)(2). If you have questions, I can be reached at 757-864-4274 or carissa.s.wheeler@nasa.gov Sincerely, Carissa S. Wheeler NASA LaRC's FOIA Officer
Preliminaries
Over2decadeswithover100experiments worldwideindicateLENRisreal,muchgreater thanChemical,Transmutations,Minimal radiation Theoriessince06indicateisprobablyweak interactions/betadecay,NOTFusion ThemanyRossidemonstrationsin11suggest LENRmayproduceuseful quantitiesofheat[up to15KWs?].WattstoKilowattsalso producedinPiantelli andPattersonExperiments
NASAInterest[s]inLENR
BetweenChemicalandstrongforceNuc Energy Densitieswithminimalradiationsafety/ protectionrequirements/issues,probably inexpensive Directandpotentiallymassively/trulygame changing ApplicationsacrosstheboardtoNASA MissionAreas: Science Exploration Aeronautics
CurrentLENRSOA
2decadesofexperimentswithouttheoreticalguidance producingverylowlevelsofenergy TheRossidevice,possiblyproducingusefulenergybutwholly Edisonian,notscalable andnotOptimized Zawodnyetalwork,firstefforttoutilizetheorytooptimize energyoutput Hugenumberofknobs/approachesappeartowork,issue ishowgoodcanitbe?Requiresexperimentsguidedbytheory andmajorcreative efforts/inputsalongwithCAREFUL Experiments,YEARSofeffortrequired.Rossiisjustthemerest beginningsoftheresearch/engineeringoptimization required.
NASAScienceLENRApplications
Superblightweightpower/energysourcesfor spaceprobes/instrumentsandhoppers/rovers, farlessexpensivethansolarandbetterthan radiologics forbeyondMarswheresolardoesnot work ReducedLEOandinspacepropulsionweights/ costs SolvesEDLforlargepayloadstoMarsvia ingestion,heatingandretroinjectionof atmosphericCO2
NASAExplorationLENRApplications
PreliminarysystemsstudiesindicateLEOaccess rocketswithNuc ThermalIsp [~800Seconds]sansthe Nuc radiationprotectionweights/safetyissues OnPlanetNuc power/EnergywithoutusualNuc Radiationprotection/safetyissues Potentiallyobviatesorderof80%ofthe1000metric tonLEOupmassforHumansMarswhichisinspace fuel,Propulsivemassfromfarouterregion atmosphereorregolith Sourceforenergybeaming,energytoterraform Mars, EnablesActiveSpaceRadiationProtection
NASAAeronauticalLENRApplications
Overall,enableswhatwehaveneverhad EnergyRich designspace[s] Fuelfractionbecomesnegligible,huge impactsuponvehiclegrossweights,especially forSSTswhicharesome55%fuelfraction UsetoreplacecombustorsinGTEsorvia SterlingorTEstogenerateelectricityfor electricpropulsors
AeronauticalApplicationsContinued
Hugerangeincreases EnablesVTOLandPAVEbotheconomicaland QUIET Enablesdesignforultralownoisevia degradingpropulsorperformance Mitigatessonicboomviafocusedenergy projectedfarforwardtoreduceshock strength,lengthen vehiclevirtually
AeronauticalApplicationsContinued
MakesSSTsaffordableviahugegrossweight reductions,reducessonicboom,enables emissioncompliance Solves emissionsexceptforNOx,whichcan bemitigatedviadesign orobviatedifgo electric Enableshugeloitercapabilityforsensor craft [military,climate/science,law enforcement,HALESatsubstitutes,etc.
AeronauticalApplicationsContinued
Reducesbothacquisitionandoperational costs Enablesenvelopelessflightviaactiveflow control,BirdLikeFlight,ALLWEATHER Provideshugemarginstoenablesuperb safety[Armoredenginesurrounds,triply redundantFaradaycagedElectronics,Etc..]
AeronauticalApplicationsContinued
Allowsdirectcontrolofwakevorticestoobviate wakevortexhazard SuperSTOLperformanceviacirculation/flow controltoincreaserunwayproductivitybya factorof3 Overall,ForAero farlowergrossweights, higherspeeds,lowernoise,greaterrange, emissionssolved,envelopeless/allweather superbridequalityflight,lowercosts,greater safety
AeronauticalApplicationsContinued
PossiblyobviatesTHEissuewithhypervelocity airbreathing,thedecreasingvalueaddedfrom burningH2fuelasafunctionofincreasingvehicle kineticenergy Forthemilitary EMPonsteroids,VTOL obviatesairbases/runways/carrierdecks, enablesloiteringcombinedsensor/weapon devices[insteadofgettingthereintimeARE THERE,always]
CommentsonLENRGoingForward
Test/determinetheperformanceoftheRossiand Piantelli devices Experimentallyvalidatetheweakinteractiontheories Utilizetheorytodesign/createandexperimentally optimizeperformance,includingsurfacemorphology considerations/opportunitiesandbootstrapping Summarize/rackup themyriadapproachesthroughout theentiresystem/sequencethatappeartowork[e.g. the5orsomethodsofaddingenergy].
CommentsContinued
The2decadesofexperimentsandtheweak interactiontheorieshaveremovedtheexistentialrisk, whatisremainingistoENGINEERforimproved performance.Alsoobviouslyallthesafetyissues,labs haveblownupstudyingthisarena SO Invent/createoptimized/improvedLENR Devices,testingRossi ismerelyasmallfirststep, dothesystemsandpropulsive/otherapplicationR&D BTW LENR[also]solvesGlobalClimateand Energy..
WewentdirectlyfromChemicalto strongforceNuc andintheprocess boughthugeenergetics improvements andradiationprotection/safetyissues thatprecludedfissionnuc application[s],Weleaptovertheweak interactionenergetics landscape exceptforradiologics.Itistimeto backtrack.