MAIN ARTICLE: JFK - Obama & Nuclear Engines for Space?
President John F. Kennedy started work on deep space propulsion, will President Obama finally finish the work and build in space ships for human deep space missions for America and the International Community?
Poll Results: Yesterday's Weekly Tracking Poll once again showed support for an expanded agenda for America's space program. Scroll down for the results, click subscribe for continued reporting on space issues.
Star Trek: In the News. Imax hopes Star Trek can beat the recession.
Is Captain Kirk going to be called on to fix America?
Yesterday's Comments: "Threat to the Shuttle WTF? That's like my Focus ZX3 being a threat to a Greyhound bus! These jokers have no sense of size." - Jeff W
Today's Poll: Sunday's Weekly Poll: So let it be written, so let it be done!
Let's start with a quote from a favorite President of mine, John F. Kennedy, given at a press confrence in Dec. 1962:
" 11.] Q. Mr. President, after your trip to Los Alamos Laboratory, New Mexico, is it your intention to ask for more money to speed up Project Rover, or for nuclear propulsion in space?
THE PRESIDENT. We’re going to let these tests go on, of the reactor. These tests should be completed by July. If they are successful, then we will put more money into the program, which would involve the Nerva and Rift, both the engine and the regular machine. We will wait until July, however, to see if these tests are successful.
It should be understood that the nuclear rocket, even under the most favorable circumstances, would not play a role in any first lunar landing.
This will not come into play until 1970 or ‘71. It would be useful for further trips to the moon or trips to Mars." - The American Presidency Project
--end quote--
Everyone thinks Gene Roddenberry was the father of the star trek generation. (see "My Favorite Kennedy Quote and Star Trek.", 'Americans in Space', Nov 17, 2008) Actually it was Kennedy and the Progressive Democrats. Kennedy saw America flying to Mars in 1971. 38 YEARS ago. How many millions of high paying high tech jobs have been sacrificed by America since then?
Math and science has been downhill ever since. We should be working on nuclear space propulsion and create for America a high tech jobs revolution by creating industries for the 21st century. America should be on the cutting edge of developing a commercial space economy for the nation.
EARLY HISTORY:
Federation of American Scientists - Nuclear Resources
"The linkage between nuclear energy and rocket technology long antedates Los Alamos and Peenemunde. The earliest pioneers of the Space Age soon realized the attractiveness of atomic propulsion for space flight.
Soon after then end of the Second World War, analysis began of the prospects for turning this long-held dream into reality. These early analyses quickly established that engine specific impulse increases with the square root of the exhaust temperature, and increases with the square root of the decrease in the molecular weight of the exhaust gas. The quest for improved performance thus led to a search for ever higher reactor operating temperatures, and molecular (or monatomic) hydrogen was soon identified as the optimal propellant. In addition, it was soon realized that attractive system designs required minimizing the mass of radiation shielding, which in turn required minimizing the size of the reactor core itself, since reflector and shield mass grows with the cube of the radius of the core. Reactors considered included so-called "fast" unmoderated reactors, as well as moderated thermal reactors, which require more shielding but use less fuel than fast reactors.
A - EARLY SPECULATION
As early as 1907, American rocket pioneer Robert Goddard had concluded that nuclear propulsion would be essential for interplanetary exploration, if only a means could be found to liberate the energy of the atom. Other early pioneers either quickly despaired of the practicality of nuclear propulsion, like Tsiolkovsky, or ignored nuclear propulsion entirely, like Oberth.(1)
Goddard was perhaps the first to contemplate the application of atomic energy to rocketry in 1906 and 1907, though he noted that the rate of decay of radium was far too slow to provide a practical means of interplanetary travel.(2) While he failed in his initial attempt to have this speculation published, it is characteristic of Goddard's penchant for secrecy that these calculations remained in his private notebooks, with Esnault-Pelterie being the first to publicly suggest the use of atomic energy for rocketry. However, Goddard remained convinced of the ultimate utility of solar and atomic propulsion for interplanetary travel:(3)
"It is evident, from the calculations made regarding the use of solar energy in space, that the most extreme speeds will be produced by solar, rather than by chemical energy.... If it is possible to obtain infra-atomic energy, the matter of transportation would be comparatively simple, and a large body could be sent from the solar system... Further, atomic disintegration may open the way for the creation of what might be called artificial atoms, in which energy might be stored by many high speed particles. This tremendous amount of energy could be liberated when these artificial atoms were broken up, or the particles were removed gradually."
Although his contributions have been obscured by subsequent developments, Robert Esnault-Pelterie continued in Verne's tradition of French leadership in the interplanetary project. Esnault-Pelterie was one of the pioneers of French aviation, whose contributions include the first all-metal monoplane, which he built in 1907.(4) REP's work culminated in 1930, with the publication of his Astronautics, which constituted a landmark review of the problems and prospects of space travel. A subsequent edition in 1934 gave considerable attention to interplanetary travel, including the applications of nuclear power.(5)
On 15 November 1912, Esnault-Pelterie presented a paper to the Physics Society of France. In one of the first scientific discussions of the problems of space travel, he suggested that atomic energy would hold the key to solving the problem of reaching the Moon and other celestial bodies. Although long a proponent of nuclear propulsion, by the early 1930s the work of others on the potential of chemical propulsion had convinced him that nuclear propulsion would not be required to accomplish lunar missions"
--end quote--
THE TURBULANT 60's:
With the coming of a new President, in the election of 1960, it ushered in a bold new program for American space, Project Apollo. Part of the research done was for a new form of propulsion other then chemical.
NERVA AND THE DAWN OF DEEP SPACE:
NERVA is an acronym for Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application. As seen from the Kennedy quote, America was going to, not the stars, but at least some of the other planets in our solar system.
History of Nerva
"The NERVA rocket engine was based on Kiwi nuclear reactor technology (the original flightless nuclear thermal rocket designs were named after the Kiwi, a flightless bird). In the early 1960s NASA planned to use NERVA to power a RIFT (Reactor-In-Flight-Test) nuclear stage to be launched in the early 1970s. The completed NERVA would be a nuclear powered upper stage for the Saturn V, which would allow the upgraded Saturn to launch interplanetary payloads. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center had the development responsibility for the rocket stage.
From the beginning the program had a number of problems. It was very expensive. It never held much public support, owing to the growing anti-nuclear lobby in the United States in the early 1970s. There were environmental concerns and the test engines themselves never managed to produce more than 40% of their theoretical thrust, which made them far less powerful than contemporary conventional rocket engines.
Eugene F. Lally of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech proposed Manned Mars Missions in the early 60's using the NERVA engine for upper stages to maximize payload and minimize cost. One mission design included separating the spacecraft connected by cables during the long transit to Mars and rotating two sections to simulate gravity and protect the astronauts from bone mass loss. Also a mosaic optical guidance and navigation system was positioned in the center of rotation to provide real time onboard navigation information to the astronauts. The optical system consisted of the first concept of a digital still camera. It used a mosaic array of light detectors to digitally produce photos of star backgrounds and planet approaches to assist with guidance and navigation."
--end quote--
There were many who supported this including Werner von Braun who proposed a human crewed Mars mission using NERVA but the program was cut in 1972 by the Republicans led by Richard Nixon.
A NEW PRESIDENT A NEW PROGRAM:
At the start of President Bush's second term he outlined a change for the direction of NASA with the announcment of a "Vison for Space Exploration" or VSE. This called for:
- The completion of the International Space Station (ISS) utilizing the space shuttle.
- When completed the space shuttle would be retired at the end of 2010.
- Build a new space system, to replace the aging space shuttle, for the exploration of the "Moon, Mars, and beyond".
FINALLY! America was going to finally move it's human space flight out past Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The Nation would need new propulsion systems and part of the new "visison: was a new program to carry this out.
Project Prometheus
Established by NASA to:
"develop nuclear-powered systems for long-duration space missions. This is NASA's first serious foray into nuclear spacecraft propulsion since the cancellation of the NERVA project in 1972. However, as of, the Project faces an uncertain future and is likely to be reduced to a low-level research effort. Its budget shrank from $430 million in 2005 to only $100 million in 2006, $90 million of which was allocated to pay closeout costs on cancelled contracts." - wiki
--end quote--
Should have known if the Bush Administration had their finger in any pie relating to science it would be given a photo op then slashed and burned.
Let us hope that the new Administration takes our human space flight program seriously and be willing to invest in the future. One promising sign is an the work of Franklin Chang-Diaz and his Ad Astra company. They are building a system called VASIMR:
Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket
"The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) is an electro-magnetic thruster for spacecraft propulsion. It uses radio waves to ionize a propellant and magnetic fields to accelerate the resulting plasma to generate thrust.
The method of heating plasma used in VASIMR was originally developed as a result of research into nuclear fusion. VASIMR is intended to bridge the gap between high-thrust, low-specific impulse propulsion systems and low-thrust, high-specific impulse systems. VASIMR is capable of functioning in either mode. Scientist and former astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz created the VASIMR concept and has been working on its development since 1979."
--end quote--
For more on space propulsion see:
Space Propulsion & Mission Analysis Office
PAGE 2:
REVOLUTIONARY AEROSPACE SYSTEMS CONCEPTS (RASC) STUDY GOALS
Manned Mission to Jupiter Moon (PDF 12 pages)
"The RASC 2002 multi-center study focused on a Human Outer Planet Exploration (HOPE) mission to Callisto, a moon of Jupiter (Troutman, 2003). The main objectives of the HOPE study were (1) to develop revolutionary aerospace systems concepts allowing human exploration missions into the outer solar system and (2) to identify critical technology requirements for realizing of these systems. The results of the HOPE analysis will help guide NASA technology investments in the future that could enable human space missions beyond the Moon and Mars."
--end quote--
High Power Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) for Cargo
and Propellant Transfer Missions in Cislunar Space
High Power Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) (PDF 10 pages)
Abstract.
"The performance of Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) in transporting cargo and propellant from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to the first Earth-Moon Lagrange point (EML1) is examined. The baseline NEP vehicle utilizes a fission reactor system with Brayton power conversion for electric power generation to power multiple liquid hydrogen magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thrusters. Vehicle characteristics and performance levels are based on technology availability in a fifteen to twenty year timeframe. Results of numerical trajectory analyses are also provided.
MISSION DESCRIPTION
The interior collinear Earth-Moon Lagrange point (EML1) provides a potentially attractive waypoint for missions to the Moon, planets, and Earth-Moon and Earth-Sun Lagrange points. The objective of this analysis is to determine the applicability of high power NEP for cargo and tanker vehicles within the Earth-Moon system. The configurations of the cargo and tanker spacecraft are very similar except for the payloads carried and power level required by each.
The NEP cargo spacecraft is designed to carry three 40 t elements of surface lander hardware for the HOPE missions to Callisto (Troutman, 2003). Upon the vehicles arrival at EML1 the cargo will be transferred to another spacecraft and the NEP cargo ship will then return to LEO to pick up more cargo. The NEP tanker will carry 128 t of liquid hydrogen (LH2) propellant to the Lagrange point. Upon arrival the tanker will mate with a bimodal NTR vehicle and transfer its payload of LH2 to the NTR spacecraft. It will then return to LEO to be replenished."
--end quote--
POLL RESULTS:
The Weekly Tracking Poll for yesterday again showed support for an increase in space spending for America.
31% voted for "MORE than 4% the peak spending during Apollo." with four and three percent tied for second with 20% of the vote. The members of DKOS who participated in the poll wanted to see cuts in space funding was 17%. This number has been fairly consistant and matches what the Gallup poll found in a 2006 poll of theirs.
WEEKLY TRACKING POLL ARCHIVES:
Sat Jan 31, 2009,
Sat Jan 24, 2009, Sat Jan 17, 2009, Sun Jan 11, 2009,Sat Jan 03, 2009, Sat Dec 27, 2008
Sat Dec 20, 2008, Sat Dec 13, 2008, Sat Dec 6, 2008, Sat Nov 29, 2008, Sat Nov 22, 2008
STAR TREK: In the News.
IMAX-Star Trek-Recession
"The chief executive of megascreen producer Imax said he was confident the movie business would remain fairly recession-proof and that his company would benefit this year from the release of the new Star Trek film and the latest Harry Potter epic.
Richard Gelfond said the Canadian company planned to release as many as 10 films in Imax theatres this year - up from seven last year.
They include the big-screen adaptation of Alan Moore's acclaimed graphic novel The Watchmen, a tale about ex-superheroes in an alternative America; Avatar, James Cameron's first feature film since the Oscar-winning Titanic; and Lost creator J.J. Abrams' much anticipated reboot of the legendary Star Trek franchise, focusing on the exploits of Captain James T. Kirk and Mr Spock."
YESTERDAY'S COMMENTS:
"The new name rumor going around the mill General Lester Lyles - at least according to NASAWatch
I got to say, I think he would be a very effective Administrator" - Ferris Valyn
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(When I asked Ferris some questions on this choice he expanded on it)
"He's got great space cred
He was a senior Obama campaign advisor, served on the President's Commission on U.S. Space Policy, has extensive space experience from his days in the USAF, is participating in the ongoing NAS study "Rationale and Goals of the U.S. Civil Space Program", and is also a member of the NASA Advisory Council. Unlike Scott Gration, Lyles has obvious space creds. I have always been impressed by him.
The act that he served on the Presidents Commission on US Space Policy (also referred to as the Aldridge commission) is what really interest me. The report they produced had a number of excellent suggestions." - Ferris Valyn
TODAY'S POLL:
Today's poll is about the future and space travel. Let no one misunderstand my position on Nuclear Space Propulsion. I would want this regulated with strong oversight but I do feel America has the talent to draw on to make this a safe proposition and a new reality for America.
Read other NASA and Space diaries on DKOS.