On Mon, 24 Feb 2003, Sawyer, Steven D. (PS, NE) wrote:
> I've not heard about any "nuclear gas core" concept.
It's not a new idea. See, for example, Max Hunter's old book "Thrust Into
Space". The brief 1990s revival of it was mostly work done at LANL, I
believe; I don't have specific references.
> The latest proposal
> (in the works) for a U235 propulsion system is to first go critical well
> beyond reaching initial orbit (i.e. Mars insertion burn). Thus, chemical
> propulsion is exclusively used when in the vicinity of Earth.
Unfortunately, using only chemical propulsion in the vicinity of Earth very
considerably reduces the advantages of having nuclear propulsion at all.
> Also, a H2
> moderated reactor results in propulsion via high-temperature Hydrogen with
> no radionucleii.
Only if you can confine fission products with 100% efficiency, which as
far as I know is considered impractical for any realistic flight-weight
engine design. A gas-core design certainly has a much worse problem in
this area than a solid-core design, but the problem exists regardless.
Henry Spencer
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