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Nuclear Photonic Propulsion

Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

Amount of fuel used to make attitude adjustments:

-Since this type of propulsion is hypothetical, there is no specific value for this yet.

- Also, this type of propulsion would mainly be used for main thrusting and not for attitude adjustments.

Nuclear Photonic Propulsion

-Nuclear pulse propulsion is a theoretical system of spacecraft propulsion that absorbs the energy from nuclear explosions in order to create thrust. It is a crude concept but could be used to reach speeds much higher than other forms of propulsion.

-It could potentially reach speeds of 5.4 ×〖10〗^7 km/hr, or 15000 km/s, and could theoretically reach Proxima Centauri in 85 years.

How is the energy converted from fuel form to propulsion?

- Heat and photons emitted from nuclear fission are passed to a working fluid, which runs through turbines and drives the ship's propellers or turns generators.

Project Orion

Nuclear Photonic Propulsion

• led by DARPA from the 1940s to 1960s to investigate the feasibility of a nuclear pulse rocket

• During its run it found and solved many problems with the design. Calculations estimated millions of pounds of thrust

• The Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1965 banned the casual use of and space detonations of nuclear explosions, scrapping the project

• Led to other designs such as Project Daedalus, Project Longshot, and the antimatter catalyzed nuclear pulse propulsion and Medusa designs

Advantage:

-much better specific impulse (thrust generated per unit propellant flow rate) than chemical rockets

Disadvantages:

-takes a lot of power to generate a small amount of thrust

-acceleration is slow

-1 year of thrusting to achieve an earth escape velocity of 11.2 km/s

-8 years to obtain a final velocity of 240 km/s

How It Worked

Nuclear Photonic Propulsion

• Spacecraft would have a large and sturdy “pusher plate” in the back of the spacecraft

• Spacecraft ejects nuclear charges and detonates them

• Shockwaves from the resultant explosion are absorbed by the moveable plate, pushing the craft forward

• Plate also absorbs radiation

Appropriate/Efficient situations

-This system has never been used in space since the design is impractical with current technology.

-Theoretically, this could be used for deep space travel so it would not affect Earth's internal atmosphere.

-Very high density power sources would be required to provide sufficient thrust without unreasonable weight.

Orion Pulse Propulsion Unit Components

Nuclear Photonic Propulsion

Main components of the system:

• Energy from uranium fuel is extracted via nuclear fission in a similar way to how nuclear bombs are made

• Energy from explosion is absorbed by spacecraft and pushes it forward

Appropriate Situations for Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

• Use in Earth’s atmosphere would require detonating many nuclear bombs to reach escape velocity

• Resulting fallout would irradiate the atmosphere and kill dozens of people

• Not suitable for use near the surface

• Most appropriate for use in deep space travel because it can reach incredibly high speeds

• If we need to build a rocket that needs to get away from Earth very quickly, it would also be a feasible option

Nuclear Photonic Propulsion

What is nuclear propulsion?

Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

-Nuclear propulsion covers a variety of propulsion methods that use some form of nuclear reaction as the primary source of thrust.

-Many designs for nuclear propelled spacecraft have been created, and some have been tested.

-However, it is still mostly theoretical and thought it shows promise it has not been adopted as a common way to propel spacecraft.

- hypothetical rocket that uses thrust from emitted photons

How does this system create propulsion?

- The reactor would regenerate thrust by using the high temperatures created by the radiation from the fission or fusion of atoms.

Attitude Adjustments:

- This is mainly a method to generate a rockets thrust. Attitude adjustments would most likely be made using more common propulsion methods, such as ion thrusters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyshQ_Tg830o

2.2.8- Space Propulsion

Nuclear

By Brenna Hohl and Raul Largaespada

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