NASA's nuclear thermal propulsion technology project

Conference · Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992

OSTI ID:6962015

Peecook, K M; Stone, J R ^[1]

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1. NASA, Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH (United States)

The nonnuclear subsystem technologies required for incorporating nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) into space-exploration missions are discussed. Of particular interest to planned missions are such technologies as materials, instrumentation and controls, turbomachinery, CFD modeling, nozzle extension designs and models, and analyses of exhaust plumes. NASA studies are described and/or proposed for refractory metals and alloys, robotic NTP controls, and turbopump materials candidates. Alternative nozzle concepts such as aerospikes and truncated plugs are proposed, and numerical simulations are set forth for studying heavy molecules and the backstreaming of highly reactive free-radical hydrogen in the exhaust plume. The critical technologies described in the paper are central to the development of NTP, and NTP has the potential to facilitate a range of space exploration activities. 3 refs.

• Research Organization: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Cleveland, OH (United States). Lewis Research Center
• OSTI ID: 6962015
• Report Number(s): AIAA-Paper-92-3581; CONF-920747-
• Resource Relation: Conference: 28. joint propulsion conference, Nashville, TN (United States), 6-8 Jul 1992
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
AUXILIARY SYSTEMS
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
SPACE PROPULSION REACTORS
ALLOYS
DESIGN
EXHAUST GASES
HYDROGEN
MATERIALS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NASA
NOZZLES
PROPULSION SYSTEMS
PUMPS
RADICALS
REACTOR CONTROL SYSTEMS
REACTOR INSTRUMENTATION
REFRACTORY METALS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
ROBOTS
TURBOMACHINERY
CONTROL SYSTEMS
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
FLUIDS
GASEOUS WASTES
GASES
MACHINERY
METALS
MOBILE REACTORS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NONMETALS
POWER REACTORS
PROPULSION REACTORS
REACTORS
SPACE POWER REACTORS
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTES
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
210600* - Power Reactors
Auxiliary
Mobile Package
& Transportable