Posted on 01/25/2023 7:08:39 AM PST by BenLurkin
One of the bigger questions surrounding NASA’s interest in sending a crewed mission to Mars surrounds the best way to get there, and it appears the agency might have found its answer. NASA announced today that it will be developing a nuclear thermal rocket engine in collaboration with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The collaboration is called DRACO, or Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations, and it’s expected to reduce the travel time it takes to get astronauts to Mars—and potentially more distant targets in deep space. According to a press release, NASA will lead technical development of the nuclear thermal engine that will be combined with an experimental DARPA spacecraft. The two agencies will further collaborate on combining the rocket with the spacecraft ahead of its demonstration in space as early as 2027.
Reducing travel time to Mars and other locations in the solar system will subsequently reduce the amount of supplies needed for transit, which in turn can free up space for additional scientific payloads and more efficient communications equipment, NASA says. Melroy also explained that faster trips are safer trips since astronauts will spend less time being pelted by cosmic radiation while moving through space.
“When you think about national security, maneuverability is one of the things that everybody operating in air, on land, on sea, under sea really, really prizes, and its a capability that we don’t have enough of yet in the space environment,” said Stefanie Tompkins, director of DARPA, in the fireside chat.
NASA and DARPA’s timeline of a 2027 in-space test gives these agencies plenty of wiggle room to fine tune the rocket technology ahead of the planned, crewed mission to Mars in the late 2030s.
(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...
On Easter Sunday -- after spending her first night all alone in the cold -- little Ginny was alive and well after being born from Perseverance.
Poor NASA -- no clue what its higher mission is.
Oh well, it's all part of the fun. No one could then accuse the rocket scientists of meaning to do that.
NASA's Ingenuity mini-helicopter has survived its first night alone on the frigid surface of Mars, the US space agency said, hailing it as "a major milestone" for the tiny craft as it prepares for its first flight.NASA's Ingenuity helicopter survives first night alone on Mars
"major milestone" 🐣
Rock Hudson and company hung out on Mars after the earth was destroyed.
So you spend the trip (most of it) at 1g, speeding up and then slowing down for entering orbit.
Reverse that for coming back.
Interesting.
Must we really continue to entertain these fantasies about leaving Earth for greener pastures?
The planets are always greener on the other side of the
Galaxy...
While this is a good idea, there is still the gravity
well to deal with. We have found a solution but it’s
not the answer.
> But seriously, liquids are pretty heavy. How would this differ from carrying liquid fuel and some oxidizer?
it’s more efficient - the nuclear thermal needs less propellant to get the same results as the chemical rocket. The efficiency is significant, and can result in substantially more payload delivered or much shorter travel time.
“sound like their going to Fresno.”
Humans will be crawling all over Mars before the “high speed rail” makes it to Fresno!
Thanks for the “no go” tip.👍😋
“ But seriously, liquids are pretty heavy. How would this differ from carrying liquid fuel and some oxidizer?”
It’s the difference between a 1,000 lbs of TNT and a 1,000 pound nuclear bomb with the explosive force of 100,000,000 lbs of TNT.
At least a 100X the bang for the same mass of fuel (using my very estimated math).
The Hulk cartoon. What’s my prize.
Water, in form of ice, is present on many bodies in the solar system
Moon (deep craters near poles), Mars, Asteroids
Can be split into hydrogen for fuel and Oxygen for breathing
Dr. Banner, pelted by gama rays
Turns into
The Incredible Hulk!
Ain’t he unglamorous!
Everywhere they sailed west it was just more ocean.
Until Columbus.
You might be right. It may just be rocks out there.
It might be rocks full of H3 and trace metals could power the world for 100,000 years.
It’s like being a baby. Crawling is just fine and walking is very unsteady. But then you walk fine and can run. Gotta take that first step to find out.
I work out with a professor of partial physics. Ex-military, 20 years. He’s in his late 50s and still very much a weight lifter guy. Huge and imposing. Very fit.
Bad eyes, wears readers. It’s a bit jarring disconnect.
His students used to call him “professor hulk” or sometimes “The Credible Hulk.”
CISLunar??? WTF? They really need to rub our noses in their stink, don’t they?
1g — cool. The astronauts can walk around, drink liquids from a cup, lift weights, use a regular toilet.
What is Vmax if 1g to halfway point?
‘Cislunar’ has been around far longer than today’s PC usage. Likely today’s PC usage is borrowed from it.
AKA Earth Orbital Neighborhood.
NASA won’t even get the appropriate contracts signed in 5 years much less have anything built.
“Everywhere they sailed west it was just more ocean.
Until Columbus.”
Yes, and if Columbus had telescopes and remote probes that could have reached across the ocean and told him there was nothing there, he wouldn’t have set sail either.
“It might be rocks full of H3 and trace metals could power the world for 100,000 years.”
If so, then it might finally be economically viable to go harvest them. But until then, it’s mostly just taxpayer-funded science masturbation.
“Gotta take that first step to find out.”
We’ve already taken a great many steps and we have found out that we live in the only amenable spot surrounded by a gigantic “dead zone” we’ll never escape.
I had no idea. I’ve followed space exploration since the late 50s and don’t recall hearing it. Well, maybe I vaguely recall now that you mention it. Thanks.
I wonder if they’re going to credit Robert A. Heinlein for stealing his idea for torch ships.
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