Questions regarding the use of nuclear devices in space exploration, e.g. to power or propel spacecraft.
Questions tagged [nuclear]
112 questions
13
votes
4 answers
Nuclear Explosion in Space
Is it possible to detonate a nuclear bomb in space? If possible, then what will happen? In the Armageddon movie we watched that, after discovering that an asteroid the size of Texas is going to impact Earth in less than a month, NASA recruits a team…
Killer
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7
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1 answer
What happened to Kilopower generators?
Why are we still using solar power for spacecraft? Would it be possible to replace the giant solar arrays and batteries on spacecraft with Kilopower generators?
Sibyl
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7
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2 answers
For a hypothetical high-power nuclear spacecraft, where does the waste heat go?
It seems that all nuclear propulsion concepts extract fission energy as heat, and somehow convert a portion of that heat to energy in the desired form, such as electrical (e.g. to power an ion thruster). It always amounts to creating heat in one…
Anthony X
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1 answer
Can rocket engine like NERVA be used to get into low earth orbit or higher?
I have heard of nuclear propulsion, however I wonder that is it possible for it to launch into space, and if so, how much fuel would it need?
RoylatGnail
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Why didn't the NERVA rockets use a higher neutron flux?
One of the big problems with NERVA was that the T/W ratio of the engine alone was hardly above one, making it impossible to use for getting into orbit. Since the power of a nuclear reactor is directly proportional to its neutron flux, and adding…
Nikhil Murali
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