The DIII-D National Fusion Facility in San Diego, home of the largest magnetic fusion research machine in the U.S., recently surpassed its 200,000th experimental cycle since it began operations, marking an important milestone in the development of clean fusion energy. Referred to as “shots,” each of these tests and discharges have advanced the U.S. fusion research program’s collective understanding of how to create, shape, and confine plasmas to support the development of fusion as a source of base-load energy in the future.  […]