Physics

Problem

A spacecraft requires a continuous electric power of

1\,\text{MW}

for a 100-day mission. Its fusion reactor operates at

25\%

efficiency and uses the deuterium–tritium reaction that releases

17.6\,\text{MeV}

per fusion event. The number of fusion events needed for the mission is approximately a)

3.1\times10^{24}

6.1\times10^{24}

1.2\times10^{25}

5.9\times10^{25}