3 ms·
Most likely the reaction mass is hydrogen. The NERVA project [1] used it, and the mechanism was quite straightforward: heat the hydrogen to 2250 deg Celsius and
by credit_guy 6y ago
Most likely the reaction mass is hydrogen. The NERVA project [1] used it, and the mechanism was quite straightforward: heat the hydrogen to 2250 deg Celsius and let it go. The vacuum specific impulse obtained by NERVA was 841 s (the Space Shuttle main engine had a specific impulse of 453 s)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA
- valuearb 6y agoThis is another shortcoming of NTRs, as Hydrogen is tiny and slippery, leading to significant amounts of leakage over long trips.