Characteristics of Nuclear Spacecraft in Nano-Gravity for the Deep Space Explorer

AbstractNuclear power is investigated for its use in space travel beyond Mars' orbit. Considered from the aspects of economy and safety, two kinds of spacecraft are compared: radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG)-powered and photovoltaic-battery powered. Optimized mass for RTG spacecraft...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of aerospace engineering Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. 1 - 8
Main Authors Woo, Tae Ho, Lee, Soon Ho
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published American Society of Civil Engineers 01.01.2014
Subjects
Algorithms
Dynamical systems
Economics
Nonlinear dynamics
Nuclear engineering
Nuclear power
Nuclear safety
Spacecraft
Technical Papers
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Summary:AbstractNuclear power is investigated for its use in space travel beyond Mars' orbit. Considered from the aspects of economy and safety, two kinds of spacecraft are compared: radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG)-powered and photovoltaic-battery powered. Optimized mass for RTG spacecraft is obtained for measuring nuclear power expenditure in space, required for finding the break-even distance for RTG-powered compared to photovoltaic-battery–powered spacecraft. It is found that the lighter mass of the RTG system makes it the more economical of the two systems considered. The safety assessment of the RTG system also shows greater safety of operation where the nonlinear algorithm is described by the system dynamics algorithm. Therefore, it is concluded that, of the two systems, nuclear power in space holds the most promise for both safety and economy.
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ISSN:0893-1321
1943-5525
DOI:10.1061/(ASCE)AS.1943-5525.0000196