Advanced hybrid nuclear propulsion Mars mission performance enhancement

Conference · Sat Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:7144807

Dagle, J E; Noffsinger, K E; Segna, D R

Nuclear electric propulsion (NEP), compared with chemical and nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP), can effectively deliver the same mass to Mars using much less propellant, consequently requiring less mass delivered to Earth orbit. The lower thrust of NEP requires a spiral trajectory near planetary bodies, which significantly increases the travel time. Although the total travel time is long, the portion of the flight time spent during interplanetary transfer is shorter, because the vehicle is thrusting for much longer periods of time. This has led to the supposition that NEP, although very attractive for cargo missions, is not suitable for piloted missions to Mars. However, with the application of a hybrid approach to propulsion, the benefits of NEP can be utilized while drastically reducing the overall travel time required. Development of a dual-mode system, which utilizes high-thrust NTP to propel the spacecraft from the planetary gravitational influence and low-thrust NEP to accelerate in interplanetary space, eliminates the spiral trajectory and results in a much faster transit time than could be obtained by either NEP or NTP alone. This results in a mission profile with a lower initial mass in low Earth orbit. In addition, the propulsion system would have the capability to provide electrical power for mission applications.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 7144807
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-20523; CONF-9208114-4; ON: DE93001309
• Resource Relation: Conference: American Nuclear Society meeting, Jackson Hole, WY (United States), 16-19 Aug 1992
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
HYBRID SYSTEMS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
PROPULSION SYSTEMS
SPACE PROPULSION REACTORS
EXPLORATION
MARS PLANET
SPACE FLIGHT
SPACE TRANSPORT
SPACECRAFT POWER SUPPLIES
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
MOBILE REACTORS
PLANETS
POWER REACTORS
POWER SUPPLIES
PROPULSION REACTORS
REACTORS
SPACE POWER REACTORS
TRANSPORT
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
210600* - Power Reactors
Auxiliary
Mobile Package
& Transportable