Reducing the risk to Mars: The gas core nuclear rocket

Journal Article · Thu Jan 15 04:00:00 EST 1998 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.54731· OSTI ID:21179649

Howe, S D; DeVolder, B; Thode, L; Zerkle, D ^[1]

---

1. P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)

The next giant leap for mankind will be the human exploration of Mars. Almost certainly within the next thirty years, a human crew will brave the isolation, the radiation, and the lack of gravity to walk on and explore the Red planet. However, because the mission distances and duration will be hundreds of times greater than the lunar missions, a human crew will face much greater obstacles and a higher risk than those experienced during the Apollo program. A single solution to many of these obstacles is to dramatically decrease the mission duration by developing a high performance propulsion system. The gas-core nuclear rocket (GCNR) has the potential to be such a system. We have completed a comparative study of the potential impact that a GCNR could have on a manned Mars mission. The total IMLEO, transit times, and accumulated radiation dose to the crew will be compared with the NASA Design Reference Missions.

• OSTI ID: 21179649
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 420; ISSN 0094-243X; ISSN APCPCS
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DESIGN
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
PERFORMANCE
PROPULSION SYSTEMS
RADIATION DOSES
REACTOR CORES
RISK ASSESSMENT
SAFETY ANALYSIS
SPACE PROPULSION REACTORS
SPACE VEHICLES