SAFE Testing Nuclear Rockets Economically

Details SAFE Testing Nuclear Rockets Economically SAFE Testing Nuclear Rockets Economically

Jan 2003

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003aipc..654..805h&link_type=abstract

SPACE TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS INT.FORUM-STAIF 2003: Conf.on Thermophysics in Microgravity; Commercial/Civil Next Generation

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Propulsion Reactors, Spaceborne And Space Research Instruments, Apparatus, And Components

Scientific paper

Several studies over the past few decades have recognized the need for advanced propulsion to explore the solar system. As early as the 1960s, Werner Von Braun and others recognized the need for a nuclear rocket for sending humans to Mars. The great distances, the intense radiation levels, and the physiological response to zero-gravity all supported the concept of using a nuclear rocket to decrease mission time. These same needs have been recognized in later studies, especially in the Space Exploration Initiative in 1989. One of the key questions that has arisen in later studies, however, is the ability to test a nuclear rocket engine in the current societal environment. Unlike the Rover/NERVA programs in the 1960s, the rocket exhaust can no longer be vented to the open atmosphere. As a consequence, previous studies have examined the feasibility of building a large-scale version of the Nuclear Furnace Scrubber that was demonstrated in 1971. We have investigated an alternative that would deposit the rocket exhaust along with any entrained fission products directly into the ground. The Subsurface Active Filtering of Exhaust, or SAFE, concept would allow variable sized engines to be tested for long times at a modest expense. A system overview, results of preliminary calculations, and cost estimates of proof of concept demonstrations are presented. The results indicate that a nuclear rocket could be tested at the Nevada Test Site for under $20 M.

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