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It takes a long time to move to Mars, about 9 months using today’s rocket technique. This is because regular rocket engines burn fuel and oxygen together (like car engines), but they are not very efficient. The fundamental problem is that the spacecraft should carry both fuel and oxidizer as there is no air in space to support combustion. This creates a vicious cycle: the more fuel you move to go fast, the heavier your spacecraft becomes, which requires even more fuel to accelerate that extra weight. To go fast, you will need a large -scale fuel, making the rocket incredibly expensive and heavy. Current chemical propulsion systems are only about their theoretical boundaries, with very little space to improve efficiency.
Whereas NASA funding has slipped There was no allocation for the nuclear thermal propulsion and/or nuclear power propulsion by the Trump administration, studying the scientific nuclear propulsion of the European Space Agency (ESA). Here’s how it works: Instead of burning fuel with oxygen, an atomic reactor heats a propellant like hydrogen. The super-heated propellent then shoots out of the rocket nozzle, leading the spacecraft forward. This method is much more efficient than chemical rockets.
Seeing atomic rocket again for Mars
Atomic rockets provide many major advantages, such as cutting the time of Mars in half to 9 months to about 4 to 5 months. Efficiency benefits come from the fact that atomic reactor produces more energy per unit of fuel than chemical reactions. Surprisingly, astronauts will actually receive less harmful radiation on low visits, even if the engine itself produces radiation. This is because astronauts are constantly bombing by cosmic radiation during their journey, and cutting the time of travel in half reduces their total risk. These engines do the best work for large spacecraft, which require dramatically speed and slow, perfect for the Moon and Mars mission where at least 25,000 km/h requires rapid velocity changes.
Study is called “East student,” Priority through careful design. The nuclear reactor is on only when the spacecraft is away from the Earth in a safe orbit. Prior to activation, uranium fuel has very little radioactivity and is not toxic. Many radiation shields protect the crew during the burning of a small engine that lasts for less than 2 hours. The reactor is designed to return to the Earth’s atmosphere at any time. The research team spent more than a year in analyzing this technique and concluded that it is possible for long -term development. However, it is still important work, including new ceramic-matel reactor design laboratory tests, construction of safe testing features, and solving technical challenges such as fuel sourcing and reactor restart system.
Atomic thermal propulsion can bring revolution in space travel, making Mars and Moon more practically missions. While the technology is promising and looks safe, we will develop many years before we look at the nuclear-managed spacecraft on the red planet. It is very good to see that it shows that this technique is expected to develop, potentially in a new era of space exploration, where the distant world becomes more accessible than ever before the world.
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