NIF AND SPACE RESEARCH
The immense heat and light of the Sun are the result of nuclear fusion reactions
Did you know? Some astrophysical processes mimic laser behaviour
NIF can reproduce conditions similar to those found in Saturn’s core
While the conditions created inside NIF’s target chamber are far beyond anything normally seen on Earth, they’re much more typical of certain astrophysical environments. This makes NIF an invaluable tool for space research. The interior of a star, for example, undergoes fusion in much the same way – but on a far larger scale – as the nuclear explosions NIF was designed to emulate. In 2017, as part of LLNL’s ‘Discovery Science’ program, it was used to create conditions resembling a stellar interior, allowing researchers to collect data that would be impossible to obtain by any other means.