11
votes
Accepted
Are nuclear thermal engine designs limited to about twice the Isp of existing chemical rocket engines? If so, why; what's the limiting factor?
For solid core engines, yes, that's their limit.
If so, what is the limiting factor?
The exhaust velocity (and hence specific impulse) is linked to the heat of the propellant. The propellant can't ...
- 8,188
10
votes
What is the relationship (if any) between NASA's Kilopower project and its request for 40 kW reactor designs?
Kilopower is designed for at most 10 kW of power. I asked Patrick McClure, who is the engineer in charge of the Kilopower project at Los Alamos (2019 Humans to Mars summit) if they could scale it up ...
- 122k
4
votes
Accepted
Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies (USNC-Tech) has delivered a design concept to NASA, but what does NASA consider a "design concept" to be?
"Design concept" sounds like it's Technology Readiness Level 2: "technology concept and/or application formulated". In short, what UNSC-Tech has delivered is a paper design for a ...
- 15.9k
2
votes
With Ultra Safe Nuclear engines and hydrogen propellant, how far to Mars could you get and still be able to return to Earth in an emergency?
All the way?
This isn't really a meaningful question. If you've got sufficient delta-V to get to Mars and back, you've got sufficient delta-V to get to Mars and back. Unless you're on a continuous-...
- 15.9k
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