How can nuclear propulsion help improve deep space missions by significantly reducing the amount of time to reach Mars and beyond? This is what a recent study published in Acta Astronautica hopes to address as a team of scientists from NASA and academia investigated the benefits of using nuclear thermal rockets for deep space missions. This study has the potential to help scientists, engineers, and the public better understand novel propulsion techniques that could surpass chemical rockets for sending astronauts to Mars and other planets throughout the solar system.
For the study, the researchers presented a novel nuclear propulsion engine design centrifugal nuclear thermal rocket (CNTR) that involves using rotating cylinders of liquid fuel that is set in place by centrifugal force. This differs from traditional nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) systems that use solid fuel. In the end, the researchers concluded the CNTR could enable shorter human journeys to Mars, and even robotic missions to the outer gas giant planets and the Kuiper Belt where Pluto orbits. This reduced time to Mars could also reduce the health risks associated with prolonged space travel.
“You could have a safe one-way trip to Mars in six months, for example, as opposed to doing the same mission in a year,” said Spencer Christian, who is a PhD student at The Ohio State University and is leading the prototype construction of CNTR. “Depending on how well it works, the prototype CNTR engine is pushing us towards the future.”
This study comes as NASA and China are planning to land their astronauts on the lunar surface in the next few years, with both also having ambitious plans for sending humans to Mars in the next decade.
How will nuclear propulsion help advance deep space exploration in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Acta Astronautica, EurekAlert!
Featured Image: Artist's rendition of a nuclear propulsion rocket. (Credit: NASA)