A nuclear thermal rocket engine design based on the particle bed reactor suitable for a Mars mission

Powell, Jessica M.; Ludewig, H.; Mughabghab, S.F.; Lazareth, O. W.; Perkins, K.R.; Selcow, E.C.; Schmidt, E.

doi:10.2514/6.1991-3508

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Original NASA Mars mission engines were required to produce 335,000 N of thrust (Borowski 1990). PBR based designs for this mission have been studied (Ludewig 1990, Powell et al 1991 and have been found to be very competitive. The new smaller engines would be designed to generate thrust in the range 45,000 N -180,000 N, with a more detailed consideration of a 112,500 N thrust unit.…”

Section: Mtroducttonmentioning

confidence: 99%

A particle bed reactor based NTP in the 112,500 N thrust class

Ludewig¹,

Powell²,

Lazareth³

et al. 1993

AIP Conference Proceedings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A hs trac t This paper discusses the application of a Particle Bed Reactor (PBR) to a 112,500 N thrust Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) Engine. The method of analysis is described, followed by a presentation of the results. It is concluded that the PBR would result in a very competitive NTP engine. In addition, due to the high power densities possible with a PBR, high thrust/weight ratios are possible. This conclusion can be used to satisfy a variety of mission goals.

show abstract

Section: Mtroducttonmentioning

confidence: 99%

A particle bed reactor based NTP in the 112,500 N thrust class

Ludewig¹,

Powell²,

Lazareth³

et al. 1993

AIP Conference Proceedings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…• The sensor core can blend with the fuel matrix of a number of reactor concepts proposed for nuclear thermal propulsion, such as the particle bed concept (Powell et al, 1991) or cermet fuel (Kruger, 1991), reducing material compatibility problems at high temperatures and high temperature gradients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct Estimation of Power Distribution in Reactors for Nuclear Thermal Space Propulsion

Aldemir¹,

Miller²,

Burghelea³

2004

AIP Conference Proceedings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A recently proposed constant temperature power sensor (CTPS) has the capability to directly measure the local power deposition rate in nuclear reactor cores proposed for space thermal propulsion. Such a capability reduces the uncertainties in the estimated power peaking factors and hence increases the reliability of the nuclear engine. The CTPS operation is sensitive to the changes in the local thermal conditions. A procedure is described for the automatic on-line calibration of the sensor through estimation of changes in thermal .conditions.

show abstract