Russia explores atomic space engine.

Boy, theres alot of people trying to "out-do" NASA these days....

MOSCOW, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Russia is preparing to develop a nuclear-propelled spacecraft to maintain a competitive edge in the global space race, officials said.

Full article


Russia might be on to something, what do you think. ATS?

I know we have alot of buffs on the subject here.

Well they are 50 years late.

See the media these days think we are all dumb and forget things.

But in the 1950's there was a huge effort to determine the validity and usefulness of a space engine using nuclear power.

In fact it was probably the most logical solution at the time. Given that a nuclear reactor can run very long periods with very little fuel.

In fact there are a lot of old nuclear scientists who have discussed actually designing and testing these types of nuclear engines.

However the idea was put away to the side for many reasons.

This information can be looked up and verified easily. Even your local library should have reams of information about it.

Russia was even doing these types of experiments and making blueprints 50 years ago.

So the media must think we are really dumb or forgetful.

reply to post by muzzleflash

So the media must think we are really dumb or forgetful

Or else technology has changed and is now feasible..

Or else the media outlet that reported this isn't "Media" as in "All Media" as in a single entity called "The Media" more than it is a single reporter in a single media outlet lol

Just trying to be pedantic coz' im bored.

NASA and the U.S. Military have explored various kinds of Nuclear propulsion in the past. Most notably:

- NASA's "NERVA" project from the early 1960s. NERVA stood for Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application. The goal of projeact NERVA was to build a Nuclear Thermal Rocket.
NERVA

- The U.S. Air Forces "Project Pluto" back in the early 1960s, which developed a Ramjet engine that used heat from a nuclear reactor. The end-use was to be for a cruise missile.
Project Pluto

- Project "Longshot" -- which was a joint U.S. Naval Academy/NASA program from the 1980s that designed (on paper only) a an unmanned probe to Alpha Centauri that used Nuclear propulsion.
PDF - Project Longshot - Alpha Centauri

- NASA's "Project Prometheus" which a program started in 2003 that is attempting to design a Nuclear Thermal Rocket motor for a spacecraft that would visit the Moons of Jupiter.
Project Prometheus

To me, project Longshot sounded the most interesting, because of its proposed target. Obviously, this was more of a design exercise than a real working project, but supposedly NASA and the Navy said that the technology required for Project Longshot were all technologies we have today.

[edit on 1/11/2010 by Soylent Green Is People]

According to little info I found on teh interwebz, it will be a multi megawatt nuclear reactor feeding an electric rocket engine with "double" the efficiency than conventional. Probably meaning ISP of around 1000?

It is definately a step in the right direction, and I am glad that Russia has the balls to finaly pursue nuclear in space.
Go Russia!

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People
NASA and the U.S. Military have explored various kinds of Nuclear propulsion in the past. Most notably:

- NASA's "NERVA" project from the early 1960s. NERVA stood for Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application. The goal of projeact NERVA was to build a Nuclear Thermal Rocket.
NERVA

- The U.S. Air Forces "Project Pluto" back in the early 1960s, which developed a Ramjet engine that used heat from a nuclear reactor. The end-use was to be for a cruise missile.
Project Pluto

- Project "Longshot" -- which was a joint U.S. Naval Academy/NASA program from the 1980s that designed (on paper only) a an unmanned probe to Alpha Centauri that used Nuclear propulsion.
PDF - Project Longshot - Alpha Centauri

- NASA's "Project Prometheus" which a program started in 2003 that is attempting to design a Nuclear Thermal Rocket motor for a spacecraft that would visit the Moons of Jupiter.
Project Prometheus]

My favourite is Project Orion A nuclear bomb powered spacecraft

[edit on 11/1/10 by dereks]

reply to post by dereks


oh, you beat me to it!
glad to see Project Orion get a mention though.

here's some more info

Originally posted by InertiaZero
Boy, theres alot of people trying to "out-do" NASA these days....

MOSCOW, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Russia is preparing to develop a nuclear-propelled spacecraft to maintain a competitive edge in the global space race, officials said.

Full article


Russia might be on to something, what do you think. ATS?

I know we have alot of buffs on the subject here.

No. That is not the right way to go.
The Helium-3 Fusion reactor is better.
Helium-3 can be found on our moon.
Electricity is harnessed directly from the reactor. - No steam -
The electricity can power the plasma ion drive system,
the artificial gravity and the life support system.

[edit on 11-1-2010 by Eurisko2012]

[edit on 11-1-2010 by Eurisko2012]

Originally posted by InertiaZero
Boy, theres alot of people trying to "out-do" NASA these days....

MOSCOW, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Russia is preparing to develop a nuclear-propelled spacecraft to maintain a competitive edge in the global space race, officials said.

Full article

The NERVA gas nuclear rocket was studied in t5he 1950's and 60's. The Orion Nuclear Pulse rocket was also studied during this time. (This is not to be confused with the Orion moon rocket were planning on sending back to the moon about 2020. Thats if the fools in government don't cut the budget). The most interesting technology to me is radio frequency accellerated, plasma drive. Ion drive has very high speed and very long range, it just takes you forever to get to a decent speed. Good for unmanned probes though... RF plasma drive gets up to speed very quckly, and goes like a bat out of hell. To give you an idea how fast conventional rockets take to get to Mars, its about six months. Thats a long time to be weightless and exposed to cosmic rays. An RF Plasma Drive will get you to Mars from Earth in thirty nine days. Yes I said 39 days. Wow.

Nuclear pulse drives I believe go a lot faster, but I don't know how fast. (check to find a link for "Orion nuclear rocket", and "NERVA nuclear rocket" on Google, I,m sure there's a buch of references).

It might interest some of you that I think Stanton Friedman (spell?) of UFO investigative fame may have worked on the NERVA project in the 1960's. I'm pretty sure he worked on the the nuclear powered bomber project during the same period.


Russia might be on to something, what do you think. ATS?

I know we have alot of buffs on the subject here.

Originally posted by dereks
My favourite is Project Orion A nuclear bomb powered spacecraft

Yes...Project Orion is definitely interesting.

However, I was only listing NASA and U.S. Military projects. I was showing that Russia is not necessarily leading the way in nuclear rocket propulsion and that NASA and the U.S. have a long history of designing, studying, and building rockets using nuclear propulsion.

I think nuclear power for spacecrafts is the way to go for the time being. It's unfortunate that the word "nuclear" comes with such a big stigma attached to it. I think that has hindered further development in this area for the last while.

But if we want to get anywhere in this solar system in a more reasonable amount of time. It's our only option at the moment I believe. I'm just not sure what the best method for using a nuclear reactor would be. Either you have it power the rocket directly, like a Nuclear Thermal Rocket. Or you just have the nuclear reactor generate electricity which could then power something like VASIMR.

[edit on 11-1-2010 by jra]

Originally posted by jra
I think nuclear power for spacecrafts is the way to go for the time being. It's unfortunate that the word "nuclear" comes with such a big stigma attached to it. I think that has hindered further development in this area for the last while.

But if we want to get anywhere in this solar system in a more reasonable amount of time. It's our only option at the moment I believe. I'm just not sure what the best method for using a nuclear reactor would be. Either you have it power the rocket directly, like a Nuclear Thermal Rocket. Or you just have the nuclear reactor generate electricity which could then power something like VASIMR.

[edit on 11-1-2010 by jra]

I had a feeling you would show up on this thread.
Your VASIMR looks good but i think i found something better.
- Electrogravitics -



[edit on 11-1-2010 by Eurisko2012]

Many people are familiar with a quote from John F. Kennedy's "Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs" delivered on May 25, 1961:

John F. Kennedy
I therefore ask the Congress, above and beyond the increases I have earlier requested for space activities, to provide the funds which are needed to meet the following national goals:

First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.

Note that he said "goals" - plural. The Man-on-the-Moon was only the first of four. Can you guess what the second goal was?

Secondly, an additional 23 million dollars, together with 7 million dollars already available, will accelerate development of the Rover nuclear rocket. This gives promise of some day providing a means for even more exciting and ambitious exploration of space, perhaps beyond the moon, perhaps to the very end of the solar system itself.

The other two goals turned-out to have the greatest long-term impact on human civilization:

Third, an additional 50 million dollars will make the most of our present leadership, by accelerating the use of space satellites for world-wide communications.

Fourth, an additional 75 million dollars--of which 53 million dollars is for the Weather Bureau--will help give us at the earliest possible time a satellite system for world-wide weather observation.

So we got three out of four; but the remaining one - the nuclear rocket - may yet hold the key to the future of manned space exploration. If we don't do it, then I wish the Russians all the best.

Mound Laboratories started as part of the Manhattan Project. Known then as the Dayton Project.

Here in Dayton Ohio we had one of the most secret bases in the entire Manhattan Project. So secret in fact that you probably have never heard of it still.
We here in Dayton are very proud of the accomplishments of this facility. Even though it took nearly 10 years to clean up. It is where most of all the isotopes and major
nuclear metals(e.g., radium and actinium, thorium, plutonium) were refined.


Mound Museum

POST POLONIUM ACTIVITIES: RADIOISOTOPIC THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR PROGRAM- In 1954, the radioisotopic thermoelectric generator fueled with polonium-210 was invented at Mound. This invention used heat from radioactive decay of polonium-210. The first Space Nuclear Auxiliary Power (SNAP) generator, SNAP¬3A fueled with polonium-210, was demonstrated in 1959. However, use of polonium-210 in space application proved to be impractical.

The development of plutonium-238 heat sources was started at the Mound in 1961. Since their development, these units have been used on a variety of space missions including several lunar missions, weather satellites, navigational satellites, and deep space missions such as Voyager I and II. The most recent missions for use of radioisotopic thermoelectric generators have been Galileo, which is studying the planet Jupiter, the Ulysses, which is looking at the polar regions of the Sun; and most recently, for the Cassini mission in 1997, where the planet Saturn will be studied. These units provide heat and electrical power for spacecraft.

Dayton Aviation

Mound researchers also played a pioneering role in American’s space program with the invention of the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), a device that converts heat from a decaying radioactive isotope into electrical energy with no moving parts. Beginning with Pioneer 10 in 1972, RTGs have powered all the deep space probes beyond the orbit of Mars. Pioneer 10’s RTG powered the craft for more than 30s before its signal faded beyond detection in 2003. RTGs also powered experiments that Apollo astronauts placed on the moon.

[edit on 12-1-2010 by Zeptepi]

Originally posted by Eurisko2012
Your VASIMR looks good but i think i found something better.

In what way is it better? The wiki link, and the video didn't show me that it was better. It seems like it's still very much in the hypothetical/conceptual stage and that nothing has really been done with it.

Originally posted by jra

Originally posted by Eurisko2012
Your VASIMR looks good but i think i found something better.

In what way is it better? The wiki link, and the video didn't show me that it was better. It seems like it's still very much in the hypothetical/conceptual stage and that nothing has really been done with it.

Here you go. I found this link on the Wiki page.
They have done something with it. Scroll to the bottom.
- Flat bottom spacecraft -
Wiki Link

-------------------------------------------------------
In what way is it better?
The electrogravitics system takes up less space and consumes
very little power. It runs off of electrostatic power supplies.
Very high voltage but very low current.
-----------------------------------------------------
I think Lockheed built a working version like this back in the 1960s.
We have come a long way since then but this design never the less
works.

[edit on 12-1-2010 by Eurisko2012]

Well, I have learned more in the past 24 hours than I have in years.

Great posts everyone. I had no idea alot of this stuff was out there.

reply to post by InertiaZero


It looks like ATS is a great place to find information.
I'm glad Wiki is there to help back us up.

More info to follow.

Google Video Link

This is a clip of an 8mm film by George Adamski near
Silver Springs, Maryland in 1965. If you look on a map you will see
a U.S. Navy Research center nearby.
This version in primitive but it does work.

[edit on 12-1-2010 by Eurisko2012]

[edit on 12-1-2010 by Eurisko2012]

I think Project Orion is the way to go. The nuclear bomb drive allows HUGE payloads to be lifted into orbit. None of the other nuclear drive ideas have this kind of potential, as far as I know. We are destroying our own planet and that doesn't appear to be stoppable. In this 'changed climate', the nuclear contamination caused by a couple of hundred Orion launches may be acceptable relative to the damage we're already doing. 200 launches could put a self sufficient city or two into orbit, a rotating donut 1 kilometer in diameter, complete with forests, lakes and thousands of people. Wait until the communities and environment are stable and need no more support from earth, then attach the 200 Orion drives at the hub of the wheel and send the whole thing off at a tenth the speed of light to find a habitable planet in another solar system in a few generations' time. It's a must do!

From the begining of thread.

Read between the lines. It mean: "Yep, Bulova (nuclear rocket) fly perfect not so soon, but don't relax guys we have a lot different way how bring nuclear to your country"

Russian anecdote times of USSR:
"USA's news: Today meteorite was brought down the most expensive and perfect military space satellite.
USSR's news (next day): Today the commander of the meteorite was awarded an honorary Order of the Red Banner..."