Chapter 9: Antimatter and Anti-Universe - Class I

At the beginning of the twentieth century, scientists around the globe realized that the atom consisted of a negatively charged electron rotating around a positively charged nucleus containing protons and neutrons. In the early 1930s a new twist was added to this theory. For every particle there is a twin, an antiparticle, but with an opposite charge. The first antiparticle discovered was the antielectron, also known as, the positron. It is identical to the electron in every way except the charges are reversed. When antimatter comes in contact with normal matter, a massive explosion occurs. How massive you ask? A normal atomic bomb, like the one that wiped out Hiroshima, is only one percent efficient (only a fraction of uranium is converted to energy). If an antimatter bomb could be constructed, it would convert 100% of its mass into energy, making more efficient than a nuclear bomb. An early application of this potential energy source; the Antimatter Rocket.

Physicists have concluded that antimatter is so potentially packed with energy, that only four milligrams of positrons would be sufficient to take an antimatter rocket to Mars in just several weeks. The energy packed into antimatter is roughly one billion times more than the energy packed into rocket fuel. Pricing in at $62.5 trillion dollars per gram, antimatter is the most sought after and precious substance on Earth. For this antimatter to be usable, it would first have to be processed through a particle accelerator, which propels electrically charged particles to high speeds and to contain them. Since harvesting antimatter is in its infant stages, only a few nanograms are being processed per year with the technology that is existent. What now is required, is a particle accelerator that is specifically designed for antimatter. If this technology can be derived, the price per gram will drop significantly. and the economic state to build an antimatter rocket would be a little more clear.

The construction of an antimatter rocket will be a massive step towards interplanetary travel and exploration into deep space. However until the time when antimatter is easily harboured, these rockets will remain on the drawing board.