from
https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-nuclear-powered-rocket-mars
NASA SIGNS DEAL FOR NUCLEAR-POWERED ROCKET THAT WILL EVENTUALLY POWER
MARS MISSIONS
A NUCLEAR-POWERED ROCKET COULD CUT MARS COMMUTES IN HALF.
DARPA / FUTURISM
Going Nuclear
NASA, joined by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA),
could be testing a nuclear-powered rocket in space within the next three years.
On Wednesday, the agencies announced that the aerospace contractor
Lockheed Martin will design, build, and test a nuclear propulsion system
as part of an ambitious program called the Demonstration Rocket for
Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO).
On 31/07/2023 19:23, a425couple wrote:
from
https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-nuclear-powered-rocket-mars
NASA SIGNS DEAL FOR NUCLEAR-POWERED ROCKET THAT WILL EVENTUALLY POWER
MARS MISSIONS
A NUCLEAR-POWERED ROCKET COULD CUT MARS COMMUTES IN HALF.
DARPA / FUTURISM
Going Nuclear
NASA, joined by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA),
could be testing a nuclear-powered rocket in space within the next
three years.
On Wednesday, the agencies announced that the aerospace contractor
Lockheed Martin will design, build, and test a nuclear propulsion
system as part of an ambitious program called the Demonstration Rocket
for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO).
I heard that this was the next great thing back in the 1970's , the
project was called NERVA as I recall and it seems not so much to have
died asgone into hibernation.
I heard that this was the next great thing back in the 1970's , the
project was called NERVA as I recall and it seems not so much to have died asgone into hibernation.
Closely related, DRACO is a step backwards from NERVA because it doesn't
use weapons-grade Uranium. https://www.supercluster.com/editorial/darpa-is-reigniting-the-nuclear-engine
"After a comprehensive testing regime, the rocket engine was eventually deemed suitable for spaceflight operations by NASA and ready for
missions to Mars."
"But the rising costs of the Vietnam War and a dwindling NASA budget
made it harder to fund the NERVA program. President Johnson was adamant
to keep the US nuclear propulsion program alive, funding NERVA
specifically twice. But as President Nixon came to power in ’69, cost-cutting went into effect, and he canceled the program by 1973 to
fund the Space Shuttle."
On 01/08/2023 22:28, Jim Wilkins wrote:
Closely related, DRACO is a step backwards from NERVA because it
doesn't use weapons-grade Uranium.
https://www.supercluster.com/editorial/darpa-is-reigniting-the-nuclear-engine
"After a comprehensive testing regime, the rocket engine was
eventually deemed suitable for spaceflight operations by NASA and
ready for missions to Mars."
"But the rising costs of the Vietnam War and a dwindling NASA
budget made it harder to fund the NERVA program. President Johnson
was adamant to keep the US nuclear propulsion program alive,
funding NERVA specifically twice. But as President Nixon came to
power in ’69, cost-cutting went into effect, and he canceled the
program by 1973 to fund the Space Shuttle."
The concern I have is what happens if the launch vehicle malfunctions
? At the end of the day you are still putting a nuclear reactor along
with its enriched fuel on top of a rocket and we know that launch
vehicles sometimes fail. Scattering several hundred pounds of
enriched uranium over the area downwind of a launcher is not going to
win you any brownie points.
I am familiar with the NERVA design and the thing that cancerns me
and always always did is that you cannot run it on a test stand and
then load it into the launch vehicle. because of the radiation
levels. Worse the engine was expected to run with a max temp of 651
Kelvin (378C) but on testing the tie rod temperatures averaged at
1095 K (822 C) and a hole was burned in the nozzle.
Now the NTR design is supposed to fix all this but I worked in the
nuclear business to be rather sceptical of radical designs that can
only be tested by launching them on a rather large chemically powered
rocket, its not unknown to have them explosively dismantle themselves
on launch.
However a high powered ion drive for use in transit after launch
could cut transit times to planets such as mars as relativel small
amounts of thrust can be sustained for months and their specific
impulse makes them extremely efficient.
As for NASA I am afraid that since the Space Shuttle they have
promised much in the way of all singing all dancing manned space
vehicles but delivered nothing.
I had figured they would use regular rockets to get into orbit and then switch to Nuclear powered rockets once in orbit.
Perhaps after mining the Nuclear fuel from asteroids rather than having
to launch it from Earth's surface.
On 04/08/2023 12:29, Daniel65 wrote:
I had figured they would use regular rockets to get into orbit and then switch to Nuclear powered rockets once in orbit.
Perhaps after mining the Nuclear fuel from asteroids rather than having
to launch it from Earth's surface.
You still have the risk of launching a nuclear reactor which by
definition is large and heavy and a failed launch could end up at best
in the Ocean and at worst in the middle of a city.
On 04/08/2023 12:29, Daniel65 wrote:
I had figured they would use regular rockets to get into orbit and
then switch to Nuclear powered rockets once in orbit.
Perhaps after mining the Nuclear fuel from asteroids rather than
having to launch it from Earth's surface.
You still have the risk of launching a nuclear reactor which by
definition is large and heavy and a failed launch could end up at best
in the Ocean and at worst in the middle of a city.
This explains what an ion thruster is. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/723/a-brief-history-of-ion-propulsion/
Keith Willshaw wrote on 12/8/23 6:16 pm:
On 04/08/2023 12:29, Daniel65 wrote:
I had figured they would use regular rockets to get into orbit and
then switch to Nuclear powered rockets once in orbit.
Perhaps after mining the Nuclear fuel from asteroids rather than
having to launch it from Earth's surface.
You still have the risk of launching a nuclear reactor which by
definition is large and heavy and a failed launch could end up at best
in the Ocean and at worst in the middle of a city.
Yeah, that was why I suggested mining the Nuclear fuel from Asteroids
rather than taking it into orbit from Earth's surface.
This explains what an ion thruster is.
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/723/a-brief-history-of-ion-propulsion/
Ta.
Launched rockets are quickly destroyed if they leave specified trajectory parameters.
In the case of Cape Canaveral the debris falls in the ocean or on the space center
land. Never in a city.
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