During the last decade, rapid growth of knowledge in the field of jet, rocket, nuclear, ion and electric propulsion has resulted in many advances useful to the student, engineer and scientist. The purpose for offering this course is to make available to them these recent advances in theory and design. Accordingly, this course is organized into seven parts: Part 1 Introduction; Part 2 Jet Propulsion; Part 3 Rocket Propulsion; Part 4 Nuclear Propulsion; Part 5 Electric and Ion Propulsion; Part 6 Theory on Combustion, Detonation and Fluid Injection; Part 7 Advanced Concepts and Mission Applications. It is written in such a way that it may easily be adopted by other universities as a textbook for a one semester senior or graduate course on the subject. In addition to the undersigned who served as the course instructor and wrote Chapter I, 2 and 3, guest lecturers included: DR. G. L. DUGGER who wrote Chapter 4 "Ram-jets and Air-Aug mented Rockets," DR. GEORGE P. SUTTON who wrote Chapter 5 "Rockets and Cooling Methods," DR . . MARTIN SUMMERFIELD who wrote Chapter 6 "Solid Propellant Rockets," DR. HOWARD S. SEIFERT who wrote Chapter 7 "Hybrid Rockets," DR. CHANDLER C. Ross who wrote Chapter 8 "Advanced Nuclear Rocket Design," MR. GEORGE H. McLAFFERTY who wrote Chapter 9 "Gaseous Nuclear Rockets," DR. S. G. FORBES who wrote Chapter 10 "Electric and Ion Propul sion," DR. R. H. BODEN who wrote Chapter 11 "Ion Propulsion," DR.

Throughout most of the twentieth century, electric propulsion was considered the technology of the future. Now, the future has arrived. This important new book explains the fundamentals of electric propulsion for spacecraft and describes in detail the physics and characteristics of the two major electric thrusters in use today, ion and Hall thrusters. The authors provide an introduction to plasma physics in order to allow readers to understand the models and derivations used in determining electric thruster performance. They then go on to present detailed explanations of: Thruster principles Ion thruster plasma generators and accelerator grids Hollow cathodes Hall thrusters Ion and Hall thruster plumes Flight ion and Hall thrusters Based largely on research and development performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and complemented with scores of tables, figures, homework problems, and references, Fundamentals of Electric Propulsion: Ion and Hall Thrusters is an indispensable textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students who are preparing to enter the aerospace industry. It also serves as an equally valuable resource for professional engineers already at work in the field.

Space Nuclear Propulsion for Human Mars Exploration identifies primary technical and programmatic challenges, merits, and risks for developing and demonstrating space nuclear propulsion technologies of interest to future exploration missions. This report presents key milestones and a top-level development and demonstration roadmap for performance nuclear thermal propulsion and nuclear electric propulsion systems and identifies missions that could be enabled by successful development of each technology.

Nuclear propulsion : an introduction / Claudio Bruno -- Nuclear-thermal-rocket propulsion systems / Timothy J. Lawrence -- Application of ion thrusters to high-thrust, high-specific-impulse nuclear electric missions / D.G. Fearn -- High-power and high-thrust-density electric propulsion for in-space transportation / Monika Auweter-Kurtz and Helmut Kurtz -- Review of reactor configurations for space nuclear electric propulsion and surface power considerations / Roger X. Lenard -- Nuclear safety : legal aspects and policy recommendations / Roger X. Lenard -- Radioactivity, doses, and risks in nuclear propulsion / Alessio Del Rossi and Claudio Bruno -- The Chernobyl accident : a detailed account / Alessio del Rossi and Claudio Bruno.

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