2 ms·
With a nuclear thermal rocket generally you do 90% of your burn all at once to maximize the Oberth effect then you shut down the reactor. But you've still got
by Symmetry 7y ago
With a nuclear thermal rocket generally you do 90% of your burn all at once to maximize the Oberth effect then you shut down the reactor. But you've still got secondary decays going on for a while so you slowly use the remaining 10% of the propellant to cool the engine while getting a bit more thrust.
- DoctorOetker 7y agothis is getting close to the answer, but still not there, the secondary decays decay for a long long time, what do we do with the rocket or core after use? how much propellant is needed in theory given radiative cooling? is 10% enough?
- Symmetry 7y ago10% is enough for the fast decaying parts that give off most of the energy. I'm sure you still need a small radiator for the longer half-lived parts but any spacecraft is going to need radiators anyways.