The Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Stage (NTPS): A Key Space Asset for Human Exploration and Commercial Missions to the Moon

Borowski, Stanley K.; McCurdy, David R.; Burke, Laura M.

doi:10.2514/6.2013-5465

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…SNRE (Space Nuclear Rocket Engine): This was a conceptual design for a compact NTP that would be suitable for use in small spacecraft. Like SMALL ENGINE, it was based on a liquid-core design [14].…”

Section: Conceptual Designs Of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Reactorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuclear Propulsion

Nassersharif¹,

Thomas²

2023

Propulsion Systems - Recent Advances, New Perspectives and Applications

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Nuclear propulsion utilizes nuclear reactions to produce energy, which is then used to propel a vehicle. There are three main forms of nuclear propulsion: naval nuclear propulsion, aero-nuclear propulsion, and space nuclear propulsion. Naval nuclear propulsion involves the use of nuclear reactors to power ships. This propulsion type provides several advantages over traditional propulsion methods, including increased range, speed, and maneuverability. The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was commissioned in 1955, and since then, many countries have developed nuclear-powered submarines and ships. Aero-nuclear propulsion involves the use of nuclear reactors to power aircraft or missiles. This concept has been the subject of much research and development. Space nuclear propulsion involves the use of nuclear reactors to power spacecraft. This type of propulsion provides several advantages over traditional propulsion methods, including increased speed and efficiency. The main challenge with space nuclear propulsion is developing extremely high-temperature reactors.

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Section: Conceptual Designs Of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Reactorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuclear Propulsion

Nassersharif¹,

Thomas²

2023

Propulsion Systems - Recent Advances, New Perspectives and Applications

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“…Variations on these basic configurations have been envisioned for lunar and asteroid missions as well. [4,5,6] In Reference 4, the crewed MTV vehicle, called "Copernicus", is adapted to function as a standalone Asteroid Survey Vehicle (ASV) for a crewed expedition to a near Earth asteroid (NEA). For this configuration, dubbed "Searcher", a small 2-person pressurized excursion vehicle (MMSEV) is attached to the crewed payload element in place of the contingency consumables canister in the Mars configuration.…”

Section: Ntp Vehicle Configurationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among these are the Mars Design Reference Architecture (DRA 5.0), crewed missions to a near Earth asteroid (NEA), the Earth-Moon Lagrange point (EML2) and lunar cargo and crew missions. [1,2,3,4,5,6] In the early 1990s, a Fortran code was developed at NASA's then Lewis Research Center (GRC) to provide mass estimation for NTP vehicles. The code (designated MOMMA by its author, for Mark's Optimizing Mission Mass Allocator) organizes a mission as a series of phases where each phase has a duration and potentially a V and/or a change in mass due to jettison or pick up of payload.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated System Modeling for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP)

Ryan¹,

Borowski²

2014

50th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference

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Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) has long been identified as a key enabling technology for space exploration beyond LEO. From Wernher Von Braun's early concepts for crewed missions to the Moon and Mars to the current Mars Design Reference Architecture (DRA) 5.0 and recent lunar and asteroid mission studies, the high thrust and specific impulse of NTP opens up possibilities such as reusability that are just not feasible with competing approaches. Although NTP technology was proven in the Rover / NERVA projects in the early days of the space program, an integrated spacecraft using NTP has never been developed. Such a spacecraft presents a challenging multidisciplinary systems integration problem. The disciplines that must come together include not only nuclear propulsion and power, but also thermal management, power, structures, orbital dynamics, etc. Some of this integration logic was incorporated into a vehicle sizing code developed at NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC) in the early 1990s called MOMMA, and later into an Excel-based tool called SIZER. Recently, a team at GRC has developed an open source framework for solving Multidisciplinary Design, Analysis and Optimization (MDAO) problems called OpenMDAO. A modeling approach is presented that builds on previous work in NTP vehicle sizing and mission analysis by making use of the OpenMDAO framework to enable modular and reconfigurable representations of various NTP vehicle configurations and mission scenarios. This approach is currently applied to vehicle sizing, but is extensible to optimization of vehicle and mission designs. The key features of the code will be discussed and examples of NTP transfer vehicles and candidate missions will be presented. NomenclatureASV = Asteroid Survey Vehicle CEV = Crew Exploration Vehicle DRA = Design Reference Architecture FTD = Flight Technology Demonstrator IMLEO = Initial Mass in Low Earth Orbit Isp = Specific Impulse (seconds) K = temperature (degrees Kelvin) klb f = thrust (1000's of pounds force) LEO = Low Earth Orbit (= 407 km circular) LH 2 = Liquid Hydrogen MET = Mission Elapsed Time NERVA = Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applications NTP/NTR = Nuclear Thermal Propulsion/Nuclear Thermal Rocket RCS = Reaction Control System SLS = Space Launch System t = metric ton (1 t = 1000 kg) V = velocity change increment (km/s)

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“…There are four main types of electric propulsion technologies: electro-thermal, electromagnetic, electro-static and mixed type. Electro-thermal propulsion is not strictly an electric propulsion technology, as its propulsion thrust is generated from electrical heating and the expansion of neutral gas propellants (Clark et al 1994;Joyner, Levack & Borowski 2012;Borowski, Mccurdy & Packard 2012;Borowski, Mccurdy & Burke 2014). There is not significant plasma ionization or an electromagnetic field to accelerate the plasma.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance investigation of a high-temperature and power Hall-effect electric propulsion

Lu²,

Wang³

et al. 2019

J. Plasma Phys.

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This paper discusses a detailed computational analysis that illustrated the influences of the magnetic field and external potential on the performance of a high-temperature Hall-effect electric thruster. Uniform and non-uniform magnetic field configurations were examined. The Lorentz force in the $x$ direction, acting on the plasma, was shown to substantially enhance the flow velocity in the non-uniform magnetic field, which indicated that the non-uniform magnetic field was more suitable for Hall-effect electromagnetic acceleration. The static temperature increased with the external potential, especially near the region of cathode. This increment in gas temperature, together with the effect of the Lorentz force, results in the enhancement of the velocity at the front and back of the cathode. However, the Mach number and gas density decreased due to static temperature increases caused by the conversion of more electric power into internal energy. The thrust increased eventually with the increase of the average exit velocity.

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The Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Stage (NTPS): A Key Space Asset for Human Exploration and Commercial Missions to the Moon

Cited by 8 publications

References 19 publications

Nuclear Propulsion

Nuclear Propulsion

Integrated System Modeling for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP)

Performance investigation of a high-temperature and power Hall-effect electric propulsion

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