**Note**

Although not directly related to the idea of matter/anti-matter propulsion, an outgrowth of this inquiry has been a novel, fundamental idea about the nature of matter and anti-matter in the Universe. In describing, and questioning, the composition of matter and anti-matter for this project, the author has hypothesized that what we understand as "matter" is actually a combination of quarks, anti-quarks, electrons, and positrons [22]. In other words, it appears possible that there is not a bifurcated distinction between all matter and all anti-matter. The initial validation experiment described here should help assess this hypothesis, in addition to helping develop matter/anti-matter space propulsion.

Regardless of the outcome of the fundamental physics inquiry pursued in this initial experiment, the prospects for matter/anti-matter propulsion will remain promising. In addition, better understanding of the components and energies within atomic nuclei may inspire technologies for space propulsion that will prove to be superior to matter/anti-matter propulsion.

*Propulsion Systems – Recent Advances, New Perspectives and Applications*
