Principles of Nuclear Rocket Propulsion, Second Edition continues to put the technical and theoretical aspects of nuclear rocket propulsion into a clear and unified presentation, providing an understanding of the physical principles underlying the design and operation of nuclear fission-based rocket engines. This new edition expands on existing material and adds new topics, such as antimatter propulsion, nuclear rocket startup, new fuel forms, reactor stability, and new advanced reactor concepts. This new edition is for aerospace and nuclear engineers and advanced students interested in nuclear rocket propulsion. - Provides an understanding of the physical principles underlying the design and operation of nuclear fission-based rocket engines - Includes a number of example problems to illustrate the concepts being presented - Contains an electronic version with interactive calculators and rotatable 3D figures to demonstrate the physical concepts being presented - Features an instructor website that provides detailed solutions to all chapter review questions

Interest in rockets that use fission reactors as the heat source has centered on manned flights to Mars. The demands of such missions require rockets that are several times more powerful than the chemical rockets in use today.Rocket engines operate according to the basic principles expressed in Newton's third law of motion: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In a chemical rocket, hot gases are created by chemical combustion; in a nuclear rocket heating of the propellant in a nuclear reactor creates hot gas. In either case, the hot gases flow through the throat of the rocket nozzle where they expand and develop thrust.Extensive development effort has been expended on nuclear rockets. The nuclear Rover/ NERVA rocket programs provide a very high confidence level that the technology for a flight nuclear rocket exists. These programs demonstrated power levels between 507 MWt and 4,100 MWt and thrust levels of up to 930 kN (200,000 Ibf). Specific impulse, a measure of rocket performance, was more than twice that of chemical rockets. Ground testing and technology development has been done on several concepts described in this book. However, though there appear to be no technical barriers to the development of a successful nuclear rocket, no nuclear rockets have been flown in space.This book describes the fundamentals of nuclear rockets, the safety and other mission requirements, developmental history of various concepts both in the U.S. and Russia, and it summarizes key developmental issues.

This monograph recounts and details the development of a nuclear rocket engine reactor (NRER). In particular, it explains the working capacity of an active zone NRER under mechanical and thermal load, intensive neutron fluxes, and high-energy generation (up to 30 MBT/l) in a working medium (hydrogen) at temperatures up to 3100 K. The design principles and bearing capacity of reactors area discussed on the basis of simulation experiments and test data of a prototype reactor. Property data of dense constructional, porous thermal insulating and fuel materials such as carbide and uranium carbide compounds in the temperatures interval 300 - 3000 K are presented.; technological aspects of strength and thermal strength resistance of materials are also considered. As well, a procedure to design possible emergency processes in the NRER is developed and risks for their origination are evaluated. Finally, prospects for use in pilotless space devices and piloted interplanetary ships are reviewed.

A fundamental and practical survey is made of nuclear rocket application to space vehicle propulsion. The engine is described and propellant and radiation effects are discussed. Project Rover is summarized and performance requirements for a space vehicle are discussed. It is concluded that nuclear rockets can provide substantial performance, reliability, and economic advantages for difficult space missions. (T.R.H.).

A thrust program called perigee propulsion which minimizes gravity loss is analyzed. Thrust is applied intermittently in regions of high velocity (near successive perigees). The increased energy-addition efficiency yields mass ratios approaching those for impulsive velocity change. Corresponding times to reach desired energy are in days but are still small relative to mission times. For specified orbital-launch missions, perigee-propulsion nuclear rocket systems are shown to equal continuous-thrust performance with reactor powers an order of magnitude less than those of continuous-thrust systems. Application and operational aspects of perigee propulsion are discussed.