Fast Track'' nuclear thermal propulsion concept

Conference · Sun Jan 10 04:00:00 EST 1993 · AIP Conference Proceedings (American Institute of Physics); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.43069· OSTI ID:5460646

Johnson, R A; Zweig, H R ^[1]; Cooper, M H; Wett, J Jr ^[2]

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1. Rocketdyne Division, Rockwell International Corporation, 6633 Canoga Avenue, P.O. Box 7922, Canoga Park, California 91309-7922 (United States)
2. Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Post Office Box 158, Madison, Pennsylvania 15663 (United States)

The objective of the Space Exploration Initiative ( America at the Threshold...,'' 1991) is the exploration of Mars by man in the second decade of the 21st century. The NASA Fast Track'' approach (NASA-LeRC Presentation, 1992) could accelerate the manned exploration of Mars to 2007. NERVA-derived nuclear propulsion represents a viable near-term technology approach to accomplish the accelerated schedule. Key milestones in the progression to the manned Mars mission are (1) demonstration of TRL-6 for the man-rateable system by 1999, (2) a robotic lunar mission by 2000, (3) the first cargo mission to Mars by 2005, and (4) the piloted Mars mission in 2007. The Rocketdyne-Westinghouse concept for nuclear thermal propulsion to achieve these milestones combines the nuclear reactor technology of the Rover/NERVA programs and the state-of-the-art hardware designs from hydrogen-fueled rocket engine successes like the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME).

• OSTI ID: 5460646
• Report Number(s): CONF-930103--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings (American Institute of Physics); (United States) Journal Volume: 271:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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