|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
"To The End Of The Solar System"
Just finished reading "To The End Of The Solar System: the story of the
nuclear rocket", by James A. Dewar. Very interesting book, in two quite separate ways. The first, obviously, is that it's a history of the nuclear-rocket program. More formally, a history of Rover/NERVA, with some commentary on related efforts. The main narrative is as much about politics as technology, but there are some very nice all-tech appendixes on things like advanced concepts. (E.g., the reason why construction of the Dumbo test engine was cancelled, and no, it wasn't the choice of nozzle.) Secondly, something I wasn't expecting, it's also a history of the rise, decline, and fall of the concept of "preeminence" in space -- the idea that NASA's job was to open up the New Frontier, with Apollo being only the first small step. Very briefly -- for less than three years, in the early 60s -- preeminence *was* official policy, and James Webb's NASA was not merely permitted but firmly encouraged to make detailed plans for Mars *and beyond*, to seriously ask questions like where the first colony in the Jovian system should be located or how cooling technology for gas-core nuclear rockets would affect the cost of bulk freight from Earth to Titan. It comes up in this book because NERVA was intimately tied up with NASA's post-Apollo plans. So long as preeminence was the goal, there was no doubt that nuclear rockets would be needed and soon. When there started to be serious debate about whether a near-term nuclear-rocket flight test was needed, it meant that preeminence was dying. So the book ends up being a history of US space politics in the 1960s and early 1970s too. (Plus some unexpected side issues, like how the SST died.) All three presidents of that era end up looking rather different than the popular beliefs would have it. Highly recommended. -- "Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend." | Henry Spencer -- George Herbert | |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Thanks for the pointer...
All three presidents of that era end up looking rather different than the popular beliefs would have it. You've obviously fished before -- because you sure know how to set a hook... :-) -- Reed |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Henry Spencer wrote: (E.g., the reason why construction of the Dumbo test engine was cancelled, and no, it wasn't the choice of nozzle.) IIRC, it was the difficulty in getting the extremely small laminar flow propellant channels cut into the reactant in a consistent and cost effective form, wasn't it? Analog magazine had a whole article about it by one of the people who worked on it a couple decades or so ago...he suggested that the laminar flow channels could be cut to high tolerance by lasers- which they didn't have the ability to do at the time the program was canceled. Pat |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
In article ,
Pat Flannery wrote: (E.g., the reason why construction of the Dumbo test engine was cancelled, and no, it wasn't the choice of nozzle.) IIRC, it was the difficulty in getting the extremely small laminar flow propellant channels cut into the reactant in a consistent and cost effective form, wasn't it? Quite so. Getting highly consistent fuel elements was a problem even for NERVA. The engine's power limit is reached when the *hottest* area is on the verge of overheating... but its performance is determined by the *average* temperature. So the wider the spread between average element and hottest element, the farther the engine falls short of its theoretical performance. Pushing the performance right up to the theoretical limit requires very consistent, very reproducible fuel-element properties. The first attempts to fabricate fuel elements for the molybdenum test engine (molybdenum being good enough to demonstrate feasibility, and rather easier to work with than tungsten) showed a spread of properties so wide that the engine would have had no performance advantage over NERVA. Cutting very fine cooling passages, and plating very thin layers of uranium, precisely enough to get good performance at reasonable cost simply wasn't in the cards. -- "Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend." | Henry Spencer -- George Herbert | |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
The NASA Technical Reports Server has available a PDF format final
report on the ROVER program. Also listed are other nuclear propulsion reports on the NTRS server that are available in PDF format. Rover Nuclear Rocket Engine Program - Overview of Rover Engine Tests - Final Report 1991 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1992005899.pdf Reactor in-flight test system. Volume 1: RIFT program summary - 1961 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1974074802.pdf Nuclear Rocket Propulsion - 1962 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1963001636.pdf Nuclear pulse space vehicle study. volume i- summary - 1964 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1965058729.pdf Assembly and brazing of NERVA U-tube nozzles - 1965 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1975068371.pdf Nuclear pulse vehicle study - 1965 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1976065935.pdf Nuclear pulse space vehicle study. Volume IV - Mission velocity requirements and system comparisons - 1966 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1966072847.pdf Nuclear pulse space vehicle study. Volume IV - Mission velocity requirements and system comparisons /Supplement/ - 1966 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1966072846.pdf Nuclear Rocket Technology Conference - 1966 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1973061727.pdf Nuclear criticality study of a specific vortex-stabilized gaseous nuclear rocket engine - 1967 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1970073228.pdf A method of predicting heat transfer coefficients in the cooling passages of NERVA and Phoebus-2 rocket nozzles - 1968 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1968014393.pdf Feasibility study of a tungsten water-moderated nuclear rocket. 1: Summary report - 1968 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1972066825.pdf Feasibility study of a tungsten water-moderated nuclear rocket. 2: Fueled materials - 1968 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1972066826.pdf Feasibility study of a tungsten water-moderated nuclear rocket. 3: Fuel elements - 1968 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1972066827.pdf Feasibility study of a tungsten water-moderated nuclear rocket. 4: Neutronics - 1968 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1972066828.pdf Feasibility study of a tungsten water-moderated nuclear rocket. 5: Engine system - 1968 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1972066832.pdf Feasibility study of a tungsten water-moderated nuclear rocket. 6: Feed system and rotating machinery - 1968 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1972066829.pdf Experimental investigations to simulate the thermal environment, transparent walls, and propellant heating in a nuclear light bulb engine - 1969 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1970002925.pdf Status of nuclear flight system definition studies - 1971 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1979073697.pdf Fluid dynamics computer programs for NERVA turbopump - 1972 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1973015943.pdf Comparison of mission design options for manned Mars missions - 1986 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1994004168.pdf Preliminary survey of 21st century civil mission applications of space nuclear power - 1987 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1991005504.pdf Comparison of Fusion/Antiproton Propulsion Systems for Interplanetary Travel - 1987 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1996043322.pdf Nuclear propulsion: A vital technology for the exploration of Mars and the planets beyond - 1988 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1989001573.pdf Manned Mars Explorer project: Guidelines for a manned mission to the vicinity of Mars using Phobos as a staging outpost; schematic vehicle designs considering chemical and nuclear electric propulsion - 1988 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1989008233.pdf Nuclear technology and the space exploration missions - 1990 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1990013531.pdf An historical perspective of the NERVA nuclear rocket engine technology program - 1991 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1991017902.pdf Nuclear Thermal Propulsion: A Joint NASA/DOE/DOD Workshop - 1991 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1992001870.pdf Nuclear thermal propulsion transportation systems for lunar/Mars exploration - 1992 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1993003175.pdf The rationale/benefits of nuclear thermal rocket propulsion for NASA's lunar space transportation system - 1994 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1995109268.pdf Scoping calculations of power sources for nuclear electric propulsion - 1994 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1994029705.pdf Conceptual Design of a Vapor Core Reactor Rocket Engine for Space Propulsion - 1996 http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca...1996043610.pdf -- Rusty |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
|
#7
|
|||
|
|||
|
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Rusty wrote: The NASA Technical Reports Server has available a PDF format final report on the ROVER program. Also listed are other nuclear propulsion reports on the NTRS server that are available in PDF format. I'm glad my ISP kicked us all up to high speed internet access for the month of December. More great stuff, as usual, Rusty! I'll be particularly interested in the gaseous core reactor reports. You might want to post this material as its own thread to make sure that everyone sees it. Pat |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
On Wed, 15 Dec 2004 15:30:08 -0600, Pat Flannery wrote:
Rusty wrote: Also listed are other nuclear propulsion reports on the NTRS server that are available in PDF format. More great stuff, as usual, Rusty! I'll be particularly interested in the gaseous core reactor reports. You might want to post this material as its own thread to make sure that everyone sees it. There are beings out there that don't follow Henry-spawned threads? Pat -- Chuck Stewart "Anime-style catgirls: Threat? Menace? Or just studying algebra?" |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
How important is GR inorder to calc the precession of Mercury (banned reply) | greywolf42 | Astronomy Misc | 7 | November 19th 04 11:23 PM |
Voyager Spacecraft Approaching Solar System's Final Frontier | Ron Baalke | Science | 0 | November 5th 03 06:56 PM |
Incontrovertible Evidence | Cash | Astronomy Misc | 1 | August 24th 03 07:22 PM |
ESA Sees Stardust Storms Heading For Solar System | Ron Baalke | Misc | 0 | August 20th 03 08:10 PM |
Chiral gravity of the Solar system | Aleksandr Timofeev | Astronomy Misc | 0 | August 13th 03 04:14 PM |