Robert W. Bussard is an American physicist working primarily in nuclear fusion energy research. In 1960, Bussard famously conceived the Bussard ramjet, an interstellar space drive powered by hydrogen fusion using hydrogen collected using a magnetic field from the thin gas found in space. With fellow researcher Bruno Coppi , Bussard later founded Inesco , a private firm funded in part by Penthouse Magazine publisher Bob Guccione. Inesco set out to build small power-producing Tokamak fusion reactors called Riggatrons using methods developed from the MIT Alcator research tokamaks. The method they were trying to use in order to initiate fusion proved vastly more difficult to achieve that they anticipated and Inesco eventually shut down when its funds ran out. Bussard also founded another company, Energy Matter Conversion Corporation(EMC2).
