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Is the future of space NUCLEAR? Nasa is developing new rockets to send astronauts to new corners of the solar system</h1>
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<li class=""><span style="font-size: 1.4em;"><strong>Nasa engineers are planning to build rockets powered by nuclear fission</strong></span></li>
<li class=""><span style="font-size: 1.4em;"><strong>The nuclear fuel is used to heat liquid hydrogen to create jets of plasma </strong></span></li>
<li class=""><span style="font-size: 1.4em;"><strong>Researchers say the rockets could halve the time it takes to reach Mars</strong></span></li>
<li class=""><span style="font-size: 1.4em;"><strong>They hope it could be used to carry astronauts to the red planet in 2033</strong></span></li>
<li class=""><span style="font-size: 1.4em;"><strong>They have proposed a new nuclear powered spacecraft called Copernicus</strong></span></li>
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<i>By

Richard Gray for MailOnline</i>

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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Nasa 
scientists are developing new nuclear powered rockets that they hope 
could be used to travel the huge distances needed to take astronauts to 
Mars and explore the solar system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">They
 believe the rockets, powered using nuclear fusion rather than 
traditional chemicals, could dramatically cut the time it takes to 
travel through the solar system.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Engineers at the space agency have now been drawing up plans to use nuclear thermal propulsion in a mission to Mars in 2033.</span></div>
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<img alt="The proposed Copernicus spacecraft would use nuclear thermal propulsion to carry astronauts to Mars" class="blkBorder img-share" height="358" id="i-d9a7c3159b0ce822" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254E9CD200000578-0-The_proposed_Copernicus_spacecraft_would_use_nuclear_thermal_pro-m-40_1422984683055.jpg" width="634" /><div class="share-pictures-overlay" id="share-pictures-1">
  
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The proposed Copernicus spacecraft would use nuclear thermal propulsion to carry astronauts to Mars</div>
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                    <span style="background-color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">NASA'S NUCLEAR HISTORY </span></span>                </h3>
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Nasa has been using nuclear material to power spacecraft for decades.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">In
 1960 a satellite programme called TRANSIT, used to guide missiles from 
space, was the first to use plutonium isotopes to create batteries.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">These
 work by wrapping the plutonium with thermoelectrics, that turn the heat
 given off by the decaying isotope into electricity.</span></span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Nasa also used plutonium batteries on its failed Nimbus B1 satellite, which blew up on launch.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">IN
 1972 and 1973 Nasa then launched its Pioneer space probes, which used 
155-watt nuclear batteries to keep them powered as they travelled to the
 very edge of the solar system.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">The
 Viking landers, which touched down on Mars for the first time in 1976, 
also used plutonium batteries to power their experiments.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">The
 Voyager probes, which have become the first manmade objects to leave 
the solar system, also relied upon three plutonium-238 batteries that 
have allowed them to communicate with Earth for 36 years.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">The
 Ulysses sun probe also used a nuclear battery to keep the spacecraft 
operating while it performed a slingshot around Jupiter.</span></span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">The Galileo spaceprobe to Jupiter's moons also used two nuclear batteries to give it 570 watts of power.</span></span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">The cassini space probe to Saturn carried the largest nuclear battery every launched, weighing 72lbs.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">The Curiosity mars rover also has a 125 watt battery to help keep the robot moving on the surface of the Red planet.</span></span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">In
 1959, Nasa began work with the US Atomic Energy Commission to develop a
 nuclear powered rocket to carry astronauts into space, but the project 
was ended in 1973 at the same time as the Apollo space missions.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">  </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Nuclear thermal rockets weigh around half as much as chemical rockets for the same amount of thrust, they say.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Their
 plans were outlined in a series of reports and presentations by Nasa 
officials and researchers and a presentation given by a senior manager</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">According
 to their design, uranium-235 nuclear reactions are used to heat liquid 
hydrogen inside a reactor, turning it into ionized hydrogen gas, or 
plasma.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">This plasma is then channeled through a rocket nozzle to generate thrust.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Dr
 Stanely Borowski, an engineer at Nasa's John Glenn Research Centre, 
outlined how this could then be used to propel a space with its crew 
through space in a official Nasa paper.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">He
 said the spacecraft, called Copernicus, would consist of separate cargo
 and crewed transfer vehicles, each powered by a nuclear thermal 
propuslion stage.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">These would be constructed from a 'core' that use three engines each capable of producing thrust of around 25,000 lbs of force.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">He estimates that these vehicles could make the 40 million mile trip to Mars within 100 days.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">It took the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft carrying Nasa's Curiosity Rover to Mars 253 days to reach the red planet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Writing
 in his paper, Dr Borowski said: 'Recent measurements of the energetic 
particle radiation environment inside the Mars Science Laboratory 
spacecraft during it journey out to Mars indicate that astronauts could 
receive a radiation dose of ~0.66 Sv - the limiting value established by
 NASA — during a 1-year journey out to Mars and back.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">'With
 the potential for the crew to receive additional dose during the 
exploration phase of the mission, several questions immediately arise.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">'Can nuclear thermal propulstion’s performance capability be used to reduce transit times further and by how much?</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">'The analysis presented here indicates transit time reductions as much as 50 percent are possible.'</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Nasa
 first began researching nuclear thermal rockets as part of its Nuclear 
Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA) programme in 1959.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">However, the project, which was a collaboration between Nasa and the US Atomic Energy Comission, was officially ended in 1973.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">During
 that time, however, engineers produced several prototypes, the most 
advanced of which was known as a Pewee engine. None of the engines were 
ever used for flight.</span></div>
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<img alt="A schematic of the nuclear thermal rocket shows how liquid hydrogen propellant would heated by the reactor" class="blkBorder img-share" height="230" id="i-afe31c54a88a4aed" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254E9CAF00000578-0-A_schematic_of_the_nuclear_thermal_rocket_shows_how_liquid_hydro-m-44_1422985290686.jpg" width="634" /></div>
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A schematic of the nuclear thermal rocket shows how liquid hydrogen propellant would heated by the reactor</div>
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<img alt="This diagram shows how the Copernicus spacecraft could be adapted to different missions and travel times" class="blkBorder img-share" height="414" id="i-212434928b423e0e" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254E9CC900000578-0-This_diagram_shows_how_the_Copernicus_spacecraft_could_be_adapte-a-47_1422985456677.jpg" width="634" /><div class="share-pictures-overlay" id="share-pictures-2">
  
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This diagram shows how the Copernicus spacecraft could be adapted to different missions and travel times</div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Now
 Nasa appears to be hoping to revive the cancelled programme to provide a
 new generation of rockets to carry its astronauts and the equipment to 
support them into space.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">As
 a nuclear rocket weights almost half as much as a chemical rocket 
carring liquid oxygen and hydrogen propellant without reducing thrust.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">This means larger payloads of cargo can be carried on the spacecraft and they can also be made to travel far faster.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Under
 the plans outlined by Dr Borowski, a mission to Mars in 2033 could use 
two cargo vehicles to deploy surface and orbital equipment to Mars ahead
 of the arrival of the crew.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">He
 said that Copernicus coulod easity manage a oneway trip to Mars in 
around 130 days but by altering the design of the spacecraft to carry 
more propellant this could be reduded to 100 days.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">He
 says that it may even be possible to make the journey in just 90 days 
with a crew if equipment and cargo are carried into space in a series of
 seven launches from Earth.</span></div>
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<img alt="Engineers have proposed using seven launches (shown above) to carry cargo and crew to Mars in 2033" class="blkBorder img-share" height="408" id="i-d261d667da7e4209" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254E9CB900000578-0-Engineers_have_proposed_using_seven_launches_shown_above_to_carr-a-50_1422985565840.jpg" width="634" /><div class="share-pictures-overlay" id="share-pictures-3">
  
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Engineers have proposed using seven launches (shown above) to carry cargo and crew to Mars in 2033</div>
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<img alt="Nasa's engineers have outlined a number of designs, shown above, for nuclear thermal propulsion rockets" class="blkBorder img-share" height="373" id="i-77c12c09c52950de" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254F172B00000578-2938278-Nasa_s_engineers_have_outlined_a_number_of_designs_shown_above_f-a-57_1422985886624.jpg" width="634" /><div class="share-pictures-overlay" id="share-pictures-4">
  
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Nasa's engineers have outlined a number of designs, shown above, for nuclear thermal propulsion rockets</div>
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<img alt="The most powerful nuclear rocket engine ever tested was the Phoebus 2a, which was fired for 32 minutes in Nevada in 1968 as can be seen in the photo above" class="blkBorder img-share" height="381" id="i-4607773eb94396ca" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254F099B00000578-2938278-The_most_powerful_nuclear-a-62_1422986502823.jpg" width="306" /><div class="share-pictures-overlay" id="share-pictures-5">
  
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The most powerful nuclear rocket 
engine ever tested was</div>
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 the Phoebus 2a, which was fired for 32 minutes in </div>
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Nevada in 1968 as can be seen in the photo above</div>
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<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Proposals
 to use nuclear powered rockets were also discussed in a recent 
presentation by Dr Michael Houts, nuclear research manager at Nasa's 
Marshall Space Flight Centre.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">He said the nuclear propulsion was a 'game changing technology for space exploration'.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">He said they hoped to prove the viability and affordability of the technology within the next three years.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">He
 said that radioactive isotopes such as strontium-90, which has a 
half-life of 28.8 years, or cesium-137, with a half life of 30.1 years, 
could also be used to power the reactors.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Nasa
 could use nuclear fission to power future missions to explore Jupiter 
and its moon Europa, Neptune and the Kuiper Belt, he said.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Dr
 Houts said: 'Nuclear thermal propulsion is a fundamentally new 
capability - the energy comes from fission not chemical reactions.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">'Initial
 systems will have specific impulses roughly twice that of the best 
chemical systems, reduced propellant launch requirements, reduced trip 
time and beneficial to near-term/far-term missions currently under 
consideration.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">'Advanced nuclear propulsion systems could have extremely high performance and unique capabilities.'</span></div>
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<img alt="Nasa engineers have proposed the above design for the fuel element for a small nuclear rocket engine using uranium carbide (UC2) particles contained within graphite that could be used within a rover or space probe" class="blkBorder img-share" height="397" id="i-ee2edf0d0f03bf1a" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/03/254E9CB400000578-2938278-Nasa_engineers_have_proposed_the_above_design_for_the_fuel_eleme-a-65_1422986979695.jpg" width="634" /><div class="share-pictures-overlay" id="share-pictures-6">
  
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Nasa engineers 
have proposed the above design for the fuel element for a small nuclear 
rocket engine using uranium carbide (UC2) particles contained within 
graphite that could be used within a rover or space probe</div>
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Future nuclear thermal propulsion for space explorer

Is the future of space NUCLEAR? Nasa is developing new rockets to send astronauts to new corners of the solar system Nasa engineers are ...

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Future nuclear thermal propulsion for space explorer

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