第一种叫做核热推进（nuclear thermal propulsion），这种系统推力强大且效率适中。核热推进使用的是小型核裂变反应堆，类似于在核潜艇中发现的核裂变反应堆，常采用氢气作为工质（working substance）兼冷却剂，工质流经反应堆后被加热，再经收缩扩张喷管高速喷出，进而提供推力。NASA的工程师估计，相比化学动力驱动，由...
Focuses on the development of nuclear-powered electric propulsion systems by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States. Efforts of NASA to conduct deep-space exploration missions; Application of the gas-core nuclear rocket (GCNR) to space vehicles; Advantages of ...
第一种叫做核热推进(nuclear thermal propulsion),这种系统推力强大且效率适中。核热推进使用的是小型核裂变反应堆,类似于在核潜艇中发现的核裂变反应堆,常采用氢气作为工质(working substance)兼冷却剂,工质流经反应堆后被加热,再经收缩扩张喷管高速喷出,进而提供推力。NASA的工程师估计,相比化学动力驱动,由核热推进技...
NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy have teamed up to fund three design concepts for reactors that could become part of a nuclear thermal propulsion system.
NASA design for a Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA). Image Credit: NASA A second possible method, known as Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP), involves the same basic reactor converting its heat and energy into electrical energy which then powers an electrical engine. In both ...
The concept of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion is not new. NASA invested substantial sums on NTP from 1957-1972, but the program ended due to declining national interest in human spaceflight after the United States won the Moon Race. With NASA, the White House and Congress now aligned on the goal...
(NEC), involves the same basic reactor converted its heat and energy into electrical energy which then powers an electricalengine. In both cases, the rocket relies on nuclear fission to generates propulsion rather than chemical propellants, which has been the mainstay of NASA and all other space...
NASA says it also plans to partner with the DOE and INL on a request for commercial proposals to design a10-kilowatt-class nuclear power plantthat could be demonstrated on the surface of the moon. That project could also lead to the development of in-space nuclear electric propulsion sy...
Anew reportfrom the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine offers some answers about two such ways. Conducted at the request of NASA, a broad-based committee of experts assessed the viability of two means of propulsion—nuclear thermal and nuclear electric—for a hum...
(Courtesy: NASA) Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) involves using the energy from a nuclear reaction to heat fuel that’s fired out of the back of a rocket, like the air from a toy balloon. But with nuclear electric propulsion (NEP), the fission energy is instead used to ionize a gas...