Editing Project Longshot (section)

==Mission==
Unlike Daedalus, which used an open-cycle [[fusion power|fusion engine]], Longshot would use a long-lived [[nuclear fission]] reactor for power. Initially generating 300 kilowatts, the reactor would power a number of [[laser]]s in the engine that would be used to ignite [[inertial confinement fusion]] similar to that in Daedalus. The main design difference is that Daedalus also relied on the [[fusion reaction]] to power the ship, whereas in the Longshot design the internal reactor would provide this power.<ref name="long1"/>

The reactor would also be used to power a laser for communications back to Earth, with a maximum power of 250&nbsp;kW. For most of the journey, this would be used at a much lower power for sending data about the [[interstellar medium]]; but during the flyby, the main engine section would be discarded and the entire power capacity dedicated to communications at about 1 kilobit per second.

Longshot would have a mass of {{convert|396|t|lb}} at the start of the mission including 264 tonnes of [[helium-3]]/[[deuterium]] pellet fuel/propellant. The active mission payload, which includes the [[fission reactor]] but not the discarded main propulsion section, would have a mass of around 30 tonnes.

A difference in the mission architecture between Longshot and the Daedalus study is that Longshot would go into orbit about the target star, while the higher-speed Daedalus would do a one shot [[Planetary flyby|fly-by]] lasting a comparatively short time.

A travel to Alpha Centauri with a Longshot spacecraft would take about one century.