What to make of the Lockheed Skunk works group discovery?

Today (imo) one of the biggest yet quietest breakthroughs in human history happened with Lockheed claiming nuclear fusion is coming.

I do not think anyone with a rational mind would doubt them. They posted their news in some very very reputable outlets that wouldn't run with this unless there is some merit.

It pretty much means that in 10 years there will be no more oilfield crap.


I started looking at lockheed and their history. It seems their skunkworks division is the one responsible for a lot of discoveries including this one...

Skunk Works

Recognizing 70 Years of Innovation

Since 1943, the Skunk Works® has existed to create breakthrough technologies and landmark aircraft that continually redefine flight. Looking back, the accomplishments may stand out but it is the lessons learned along the way that will define the solutions of the future.

For us, it has always been about the future. Whether we are helping our customer reimagine an existing aircraft or developing a clean sheet design for an aircraft that could radically change the way we respond to conflict, we are here for one purpose only and that is to help our customers achieve their mission success.

For 70 years of partnership and trust, we say thank you to our customers.

Our customers have given us meaningful work that has challenged us to do our very best. The science of flight and the art of aerodynamics combined with the courage to fail, to try again and to one day succeed, for that spirit of invention and that focus on mission, we thank our employees.

The Skunk Works® of today is focused on the critical aircraft for tomorrow. Advanced technology solutions for manned and unmanned systems draw on our world-class capabilities in conceptual design, systems engineering and integration, complex project management, software development and rapid prototyping. These core capabilities tie to the foundation of the Skunk Works® where founder Kelly Johnson’s mantra, “quick, quiet and quality,” guides each and every project from concept to flight.

They work on Aircraft.... This begs the question to how and why they would lead in fusion science.


I have read for about 2 hours on this skunk works division.


Does anyone else think that this stinks of reverse engineering with the timelines? Did it take 60 years to reverse engineer fusion? Am I crazy thinking this?


What do you guys think?

They've been keeping quiet about fusion. I'm sure they've already developed working devices. They're only now releasing it.

a reply to: ArmyOfNobunaga

Skunk Works doesn't just work on airplanes. Grant you, both Skunk Works and Phantom Works' projects generally tie BACK to some sort of aerospace project. But they do a lot of r&d outside plane designs.

You might try asking yourself, "Self, what would a smallish fusion reactor be good for on an airplane"

And where, pray tell, are you getting this "working on it for 60 years" thing you keep saying on multiple threads?

a reply to: Bedlam

Maybe he meant Roswell? I have no doubt they've reverse engineered technology but I also believe they've made a lot of advances that are kept secret.

originally posted by: Bedlam
a reply to: ArmyOfNobunaga

Skunk Works doesn't just work on airplanes. Grant you, both Skunk Works and Phantom Works' projects generally tie BACK to some sort of aerospace project. But they do a lot of r&d outside plane designs.

You might try asking yourself, "Self, what would a smallish fusion reactor be good for on an airplane"

And where, pray tell, are you getting this "working on it for 60 years" thing you keep saying on multiple threads?

i come to the Ops defence cos i have seen it before

"We can make a big difference on the energy front," McGuire said, noting Lockheed's 60 years of research on nuclear fusion as a potential energy source that is safer and more efficient than current reactors based on nuclear fission.

REUTERS Article

Peace!

Q

a reply to: Quantum_Squirrel

There you go then. 60 years of progress and now it's "another 10 years" until progress becomes practical.

a reply to: Bedlam

Put it into the X-37 with a laser?

originally posted by: Yeahkeepwatchingme
a reply to: Bedlam

Maybe he meant Roswell? I have no doubt they've reverse engineered technology but I also believe they've made a lot of advances that are kept secret.

I know that's what he's trying to imply, but nowhere do I see any sort of statement that LM or anyone else has been "working steadily" on fusion for 60 years.

a reply to: Bedlam

Quantum_Squirrel posted an article with it.

originally posted by: Quantum_Squirrel

i come to the Ops defence cos i have seen it before

Q

There you go. That's what I was looking for. I know they've been diddling around with it since NERVA, but no-one's pulled it off yet. Well, not in a way that makes more energy than you put in.

originally posted by: Bedlam

originally posted by: Quantum_Squirrel

i come to the Ops defence cos i have seen it before

Q

There you go. That's what I was looking for. I know they've been diddling around with it since NERVA, but no-one's pulled it off yet. Well, not in a way that makes more energy than you put in.

i am hopefull but skeptical as it appears to be just plans and theories atm

but i was pointing out where the guy that heads the project says LM have been working on fusion for 60 yrs

Q

originally posted by: Laxpla
a reply to: Bedlam

Put it into the X-37 with a laser?

Well, there's that. Or you could power a nice FEL, or a rail gun, or the jet engines themselves, if you had enough output, or you could use the neutron flux directly to do something weapon-y and classified in the plane.

Lots of energetic neutrons produced on demand let you do something simple and horrifically effective. Further, deponent sayeth not.

a reply to: Bedlam

Yeah its a leap guys... I meant roswell and some others. Im not a big conspiracy guy. You can read my post histories here.. I do not believe in a lot that isn't right in front of me. But this reeks of something other than what is presented.. at least imo.

But I posted this because you guys know a LOT more about UFOs and Aircraft contractors than I do. I wanted to see what you guys thought.

The timeline just puts it smack dab into some of the more famous supposed UFO crashes.

I simply do not know. But I do know that Fusion will change the world.


I also agree with someone that posted that they probably already have a prototype.

Could this small sized fusion reaction be used to develop a time machine?

Didnt John Titor story have a small fusion reactor he kept in his pickup truck?


Just thinking out loud......reports of anti-gravity tech utilising liquid mercury rotated/spun to fast speed .........

If we could combine the small size of the fusion reactor and get it to power an anti gravity device then place it inside a plane/space craft......could we then bend space/time?????

I think that what surprises me the most is why Lockheed would have the necessary equipment for messing with fusion in the first place. To my knowledge the most promising fusion devices have been around since at least the 60's, with the idea of using magnets as the reaction vessel, which is the only thing that would be able to contain the immense heat and pressure produced by the fusion process. Any solid reactor walls would likely melt. So I envision that one must have a setup for working on fusion, and I cannot see how this setup would have anything to do with aircraft. Unless they were trying to specifically develop new propulsion methods using fusion, as that is the only thing that makes sense to me. Unless they do other things besides working on aircraft.

I do know that it will be interesting to see how much effort is put into fighting the release of fusion technology to the public. If our homes' electricity was coming from fusion, then theoretically it should cost us only a fraction of what we pay now, and this would cut into the profits of many major corporate suppliers of power, who would fight harder than the smaller companies. Although they likely own the smaller companies anyway. Fusion is the perfect energy source, because you don't the release of deadly radiation, as the energy being released is coming from fusing atoms as opposed to splitting them, which releases the radiation. With fusion your energy is coming from what is left behind from the process of combining atoms. If you look at the weights of hydrogen and helium you will see where the energy comes from.

I am not sure there are any real discovery yet since it is all building and testing yet and they think finished prototype in 5 years. It is more like they are saying we are working on this also and are trying to make it work. Good publicity for the company but I will wait to be happy when they have a prototype that give more energy than it uses.

en.wikipedia.org...

The high beta fusion reactor (also known as the 4th generation prototype T4) is a project being developed by a team led by Charles Chase of Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works. The "high beta" configuration allows a compact fusion reactor design and speedier development timeline (5 years instead of 30). It was presented at the Google Solve for X forum on February 7, 2013.[1] Design The device is 2x2x4 meters in size. It is cylindrical shaped. It has a vacuum inside with high magnetic fields, made using electromagnets. Uncharged deuterium gas is injected. It is heated using radio waves, in much the same way a microwave heats food. When the gas temperature reaches over 16 electron-volts, the gas ionizes into ions and electrons. This plasma exerts a pressure on the surrounding magnetic fields. This plasma pressure is counterbalanced by the magnetic field pressure in a beta ratio: beta = frac[p][p_[mag]] = frac[n k_B T][(B^2/2mu_0)] [2]

The plan is to reach a high-beta ratio. Plans call for a compact 100 MW machine. In October 2014, Reuters reported that Lockheed Martin "would build and test a compact fusion reactor in less than a year, and build a prototype in five years."[3] The company hopes to be able to meet global baseload energy demand by 2050. Here are some other characteristics of this machine:

From the wikipedia article they came out with the idea already at Google Solve for X forum on February 7, 2013 so it is more like they are pushing for it to be well known that they are working on it.

a reply to: Quantum_Squirrel

Thanks man... That was the article I read at one point but couldn't find again when I posted this.

Pretty interesting timeline huh.

a reply to: JiggyPotamus

The article gave a very good description of how it works, an informative graphic and its current size, what's the confusion?




Just realized......its this article
Ooo and a video

High hopes

A possible fusion reactor in 10 years?

What a shock.

What a surprise.

No one could ever have guessed -.-

But all I'm thinking about is the *billions upon billions* put into ineffective sorry ass "renewable" energy all while dismantling highly effective nuclear (fission) power. Imagine the money that could have been saved over the past couple of decades if we had just maintained our nuclear fission energy programs, improved security and made it even better... before moving on to the obvious next step everyone knew was coming once we had sufficiently advanced technology - fusion.

Zaphod has been saying about a possible weapon in existence that is so potentially awesome, or horrific depending on your view point. When asked why it has not been used as a show of force on IS or some other deserving recipient he has said it would be like cracking a peanut with a sledgehammer (Of course he may have used a completely different term).

Wonder if this has anything to do with that?

Wonder if the X-37b has something to do with this, its supposed recent return after a sucessful mission....