Economy
Scientific paper
Jun 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994jbis...47..229s&link_type=abstract
British Interplanetary Society, Journal (ISSN 0007-094X), vol. 47, no. 6, p. 229-238
Economy
Canopies, Interplanetary Spacecraft, Nuclear Propulsion, Sails, Servomechanisms, Winches, Manned Mars Missions, Polyethylenes, Radiation Shielding, Specific Impulse, Tetherlines, Thrust
Scientific paper
The MEDUSA concept uses a large lightweight sail (spinnaker) driven by the pressure pulses from a series of nuclear explosions. The concept is extended to higher specific impulse by using a programmed servo-winch to pay-out and drawn-in the spinnaker tethers, thereby diluting the impulsive acceleration from higher yield-to-weight ratio explosives. The servo-winch affords the crew a remarkably smooth ride and allows the use of every lightweight tethers. A Mars mission is considered and the round-trip times for various spacecraft-to-fuel ratios and yiel-to-weight ratios are calculated. Given a total exposure constraint on the spinnaker canopy and a fuel weight only twice the spacecraft weight, the required mass of the canopy is calculated for various yield-to-weight ratios and the economy of scaling to larger spacecraft if demonstrated. Assuming a 100-ton spacecraft and 200 tons of fuel consisting of 8000 bombs weighing 25 kg each, the canopy radius, mass, and thickness for a range of yield-to-weight ratios are given. Because of practical constraints on canopy thickness and weight, and concern with missions that can be accomplished only with nuclear-explosive propulsion, considerations are restricted to yield-to-weight ratios between 10 and 100 tons per kilogram. Calculations are then made on (1) specific impulse; (2) thrust-to-dry-weight ratio; (3) pulse period; (4) required tether pay-out deceleration, maximum velocity, and time; (5) required tether drawn-in acceleration, maximum velocity, and time; (6) length and mass of the tethers; (7) departure and arrival accelerations experienced by the crew; and (8) required energy storage for the servo-winch and excess power. Radiation exposure of the space capsule and the shielding requirements for the crews are also ascertained.
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