As a creature that needs water to survive...I wonder how I would feel seeing it shoot out of the end of the rocket.
But seriously, liquids are pretty heavy. How would this differ from carrying liquid fuel and some oxidizer?
I am “assuming” they would look for water along the way (Water on the moon and Mars for example.” Refueling in a zero gravity environment would certainly be more efficient, I guess.
> 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.
“ 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).
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