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Fusion nuclear pulse propulsion is one approach to using nuclear fusion energy to provide propulsion. Fusion's main advantage is its very high specific impulse, while its main disadvantage is the (likely) large mass of the reactor. A fusion rocket may produce less radiation than a fission rocket, reducing the shielding mass needed.
A nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) is a type of thermal rocket where the heat from a nuclear reaction replaces the chemical energy of the propellants in a chemical rocket. In an NTR, a working fluid , usually liquid hydrogen , is heated to a high temperature in a nuclear reactor and then expands through a rocket nozzle to create thrust .
The Bussard ramjet is a theoretical method of spacecraft propulsion for interstellar travel.A fast moving spacecraft scoops up hydrogen from the interstellar medium using an enormous funnel-shaped magnetic field (ranging from kilometers to many thousands of kilometers in diameter); the hydrogen is compressed until thermonuclear fusion occurs, which provides thrust to counter the drag created ...
A groundbreaking nuclear fusion rocket could slash the time it takes astronauts to travel to Mars in half.
Nuclear power sources could also be used to provide the spacecraft with electrical power for operations and scientific instrumentation. [12] Examples: NERVA (Nuclear Energy for Rocket Vehicle Applications), a US nuclear thermal rocket program; Project Rover, an American project to develop a nuclear thermal rocket. The program ran at the Los ...
NASA will test a nuclear-powered rocket for space travel. The technology could speed up a manned trip to Mars from the current seven-month minimum to 45 days.
The primary impetus for NIF’s construction was the promise that fusion reactions ignited by the facility’s powerful lasers would yield data that would help the U.S. maintain its nuclear ...
It is in essence a fusion rocket that uses a Z-pinch configuration, but coupled with a fission reaction to boost the fusion process. A PuFF fuel pellet, around 1 cm in diameter, [ 24 ] consists of two components: A deuterium-tritium (D-T) cylinder of plasma, called the target , which undergoes fusion, and a surrounding U-235 sheath that ...