Practical nuclear thermal rocket stages supporting human exploration of the Moon and Mars

Details Practical nuclear thermal rocket stages supporting human exploration of the Moon and Mars Practical nuclear thermal rocket stages supporting human exploration of the Moon and Mars

Jan 1992

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992aipc..246..979z&link_type=abstract

Proceedings of the ninth symposium on space nuclear power systems. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 246, pp. 979-989 (1992).

Computer Science

Performance

Lunar, Planetary, And Deep-Space Probes, Moon, Mars

Scientific paper

This paper discusses the use of practical nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) stages to support the human exploration of the Moon and Mars. The NTR engines employed are small (44 kN) and have modest performance (850 s Isp, T/W=3), so that they can be developed on a short time scale with a constrained development budget. The spacecraft configurations employed are simple stages that can be launched fully integrated with their payloads, rather than the gargantuan assemblies of trusses, engines, and liquid hydrogen filled drop tanks that have frequently been visualized as the appropriate form for the NTR spaceships of the future. Mission profiles using such simple stages are presented which accomplish all Space Exploration Initiative goals. It is shown that such near-term technology NTRs are fully adequate to meet the requirements of such missions, and that the sensitivity of mission perfomance to advancing NTR technology beyond this level is low. It is also shown that the more demanding mission profiles frequently cited as the basis for advanced technology NTRs operating at high thrust levels lack rationale. It is further shown that, in addition to being easier to develop, the small thrust NTR engine is more versatile than the large thrust NTR, being applicable across a much wider range of potential missions. It is concluded that the current NASA/DOE/DOD effort to develop an NTR should focus on the development of such a small engine on a short time schedule, and that NASA Space Exploration Initiative mission studies should be redirected towards mission modes that can be carried out by such practical stages.

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