{"id":30468,"date":"2017-05-17T00:26:01","date_gmt":"2017-05-17T00:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yaabot.com\/?p=30468"},"modified":"2024-02-12T08:41:35","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T03:11:35","slug":"nuclear-propulsion-rockets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entropymag.co\/nuclear-propulsion-rockets\/","title":{"rendered":"Nuclear Propulsion Rocket Are What We Need For A New Space Age"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The first man to land on Mars and also beyond, may not\u00a0fly the way Neil Armstrong went in his chemically powered Apollo 11 spacecraft. Well, he likely will, since we’re not going to be getting rid of restrictions on nuclear propelled rockets before Musk takes us to Mars. But eventually, we’ll shed these chemical thrusters. These old-school chemically powered rockets just don\u2019t provide the required thrust to go to massive distances. Not without exposing their crew to excessively harmful space radiation for months. This is why\u00a0nuclear propulsion rocket is required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nuclear power works perfectly as propulsion technology for spacecraft. The principle behind their working is liquid hydrogen. Liquid hydrogen is heated to a high temperature in a reactor which will eventually expand via the rocket nozzle to provide the required thrust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nuclear propulsion based rockets are not new either. The prospect of harnessing nuclear power to propel aircrafts and rockets has been discussed as early as 1942. That was when Enrico Fermi successfully completed fission reactor tests. By 1944, groups at University of Chicago\u2019s Metallurgical Laboratory and the Los Alamos National Lab developed an early model of a nuclear-thermal rocket. The design was based on this principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The development of such engines started under the aegis of USA’s AEC (Atomic Energy Commission) in 1955 as Project Rover in the Nevada Test Site. Consequently, four basic designs came from this project: KIWI, Phoebus, Pewee and Nuclear Furnace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eventually by 1961, the NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applications) program was up and running. NERVA’s purpose\u00a0was to formalise the venture of the nuclear-powered rocket into space exploration. While testing and designing of nuclear reactors were performed\u00a0by the Atomic Energy Commission, NERVA aimed to design a real engine which could be deployed into outer-space for missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n