Basics on Nuclear Propulsion

Investigations into nuclear propulsion began in the late 1950s, and were formalised with the instigation of the NERVA program in the 1960s. Projected nuclear rockets usually come in one of two forms - solid core (NERVA) and gaseous core. The latter is still being studied at Los Alamos under a progam from NASA, and there are a number of problems to be understood and solved before a working gaseous core nuclear rocket is available :

• maintaining a uranium rich plasma and injecting uranium to replace losses
• reducing heat impact on the chamber walls
• deciding on the best propellant

These days the term "nuclear propulsion" is more likely to refer to a nuclear thermal system - what is sometimes called "ion propulsion".

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

Mixed carbide nuclear fuels operate at greater temperatures improving the performance of the nuclear rocket and reducing the mass of the propellant required for a manned mission to Mars.