( originally posted on Feb. 24, 2012 )
According to Jim Dewar, a guest on a recent Space Show, there's a lot of economic potential for nuclear thermal rockets. What would it take to get this started? ...
Comment:
The repost was done because this idea of an afterburner on a nuclear thermal rocket has me intrigued. Dewar's idea is to use tungsten fuel rods so that there would not be any release of radioactivity from the rocket exhaust. ( That statement has to be verified, as I am recollecting it at the moment of this writing.) I just ordered his book The Nuclear Rocket in order to learn more.
Now, if you were to combine the tungsten fuel rods with the afterburner, you should be able to minimize the size of the spacecraft. It would utilize the superior energy potential of nuclear power over chemical, plus it would use the atmosphere as an ally as opposed to an enemy to be overcome.
The goal would be a Single Stage to Orbit ( SSTO) spacecraft that could take off a runway, get to space, and return from space by landing on a runway.
Another goal would be to use atmospheric oxygen in the afterburner so as to minimize the amount of reaction mass needed.
Why use a runway? This would be to minimize the amount of thrust needed to get airborne. Also, in order to speed turnaround time for the next mission. In addition, to make it possible to land on any airport that was available. Ultimately, this could make it a commercially viable product.
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