4 ms·
Probably easier to generate chemical fuel on the moon/mars too then to refine nuclear fuel, although if you could carry enough nuclear fuel in the first place m
by NegativeLatency 4y ago
Probably easier to generate chemical fuel on the moon/mars too then to refine nuclear fuel, although if you could carry enough nuclear fuel in the first place maybe that would be moot.
- Kim_Bruning 4y agoNuclear rockets are a bit funny: they have a separate fuel (something that produces heat, like U-235, Thorium, etc) and propellant (something that gets heated and pushed out the back, like Hydrogen, Nitrogen, etc) . I think the idea is to carry a lifetime supply of nuclear fuel. Nuclear rockets aren't necessarily super particular about what propellant they use in conjunction with that fuel, so you can probably easily either directly scoop or otherwise easily refine/distill usable propellants anywhere you can find gas or something that is liquefiable.