4 ms·
As far as I can tell, aircraft and space nuclear propulsion still hasn't actually be used in flight, right?
by kristopolous 2y ago
As far as I can tell, aircraft and space nuclear propulsion still hasn't actually be used in flight, right?
- colechristensen 2y agoCorrect depending on if you count spacecraft with electric propulsion powered by radioisotope generators.
- topspin 2y agoReactors have been flown and made critical in flight, but never used to provide power for aircraft propulsion. The Soviets got the closest, but they abandoned it as well. Recently Putin has revived a nuclear powered cruise missile design. Status is unknown publicly, but it is believed to have been set back by a major test failure and contamination event. Today, one can imagine solving the crew shielding problem of these large, nuclear powered bomber concepts by simply eliminating the crew and foregoing most of the requisite shielding. Had that been possible at the time these concepts might have been deployed.
- acidburnNSA 2y agoCorrect. Snap-10A was a nuclear fission powered satellite. It was not propulsion.
- kolinko 2y agoNot in flight, but Nerva had multiple prototypes built and tested - the longest run being over an hour long. It was cancelled due to politics, not technical viability. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA