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Full-Text Articles in Aerospace Engineering
Enhancements To Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Rockets, Kimberly Gonzalez
Enhancements To Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Rockets, Kimberly Gonzalez
UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones
Nuclear thermal rocket propulsion has been proposed as a highly efficient technology for space vehicles traveling from earth orbit to the moon, Mars, and other locations in the solar system. With twice the performance of a chemical rocket, nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) uses the thrust produced by heating hydrogen gas within a thermal nuclear reactor where the exhaust is then passed through a de Laval nozzle to produce supersonic flow. NTP engines were the subject ofthe NERVA experiments at the Nevada Test Site in the 1970’s, and they produced a specific impulse of up to 900 seconds which is almost …