The PEGASUS Drive: A nuclear electric propulsion system for the space exploration initiative
- Pacific Northwest Laboratory P.O. Box 999 M/S K5-21 Richland, WA 99352 (US)
The advantages of using electric propulsion for propulsion are well-known in the aerospace community. The high specific impulse, lower propellant requirements, and lower system mass make it a very attractive propulsion option for the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI), especially for the transport of cargo. One such propulsion system is the PEGASUS Drive (Coomes {ital et} {ital al}. 1987). In its original configuration, the PEGASUS Drive consisted of a 10-MWe power source coupled to a 6-MW magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster system. The PEGASUS Drive propelled a manned vechicle to Mars and back in 601 days. By removing the crew and their associated support systems from the space craft and by incorporating technology advances in reactor design and heat rejection systems, a second generation PEGASUS Drive can be developed with an alpha less than two. Utilizing this propulsion system, a 400-MT cargo vechicle, assembled and loaded in low Earth orbit (LEO), could deliver 262 MT of supplies and hardware to MARS 282 days after escaping Earth orbit. Upon arrival at Mars the transport vehicle would place its cargo in the desired parking orbit around Mars and then proceed to synchronous orbit above the desired landing sight. Using a laser transmitter, PEGASUS could provide 2-MW on the surface to operate automated systems deployed earlier and then provide surface power to support crew activities after their arrival. The additional supplies and hardware, coupled with the availability of megawatt levels of electric power on the Mars surface, would greatly enhance and even expand the mission options being considered under SEI.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 5759047
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-910116-; CODEN: APCPC; TRN: 91-016812
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings (American Institute of Physics); (USA), Vol. 217:1; Conference: 8. symposium on space nuclear power systems, Albuquerque, NM (USA), 6-10 Jan 1991; ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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GENERAL PHYSICS
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
SPACE VEHICLES
POWER GENERATION
DESIGN
ELECTRIC POWER
MARS SPACE PROBES
PROPULSION SYSTEMS
REACTOR COOLING SYSTEMS
THRUSTERS
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ENERGY SYSTEMS
POWER
REACTOR COMPONENTS
VEHICLES
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