3 ms·
Oh my.. Never thought of that. Surely it does not use the atmosphere as the primary circuit coolant?
by clon 9y ago
Oh my.. Never thought of that. Surely it does not use the atmosphere as the primary circuit coolant?
- TheOtherHobbes 9y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto
- behindmyscreen 9y agoIf only there were a good way of heating the air without contaminating it with radioactive emissions. If we could figure that out, such an engine would be useful in many non war related jobs.
- wcarss 9y agoThat's one of the ways these could run, yes. But hopefully not the way this one is -- there are direct exchange and indirect heating methods that have been researched. Check out Project Pluto on Wikipedia [1], and the Direct Air Cycle part of the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion page [2]. From the Pluto page, "The principle behind the nuclear ramjet was relatively simple: motion of the vehicle pushed air in through the front of the vehicle (ram effect), a nuclear reactor heated the air, and then the hot air expanded at high speed out through a nozzle at the back, providing thrust." 1 - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto 2 - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Nuclear_Propulsion#Direct_Air_Cycle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Nuclear_Propulsion#... while we're at it, have a fun tangential short story by Charlie Stross about rockets, missiles, volatile oxidizers, and more, with only a touch of plausible-sounding scifi nonsense: https://www.tor.com/2012/07/20/a-tall-tail/ https://www.tor.com/2012/07/20/a-tall-tail/