The concept of new nuclear missiles can reduce travel time in half

Engineers from Ohio State University develop a new method for missile engines, using liquid uranium for a faster and more efficient shape than nuclear payment that can lead to round flights to Mars within one year.

NASA and its private sector partners have their eyes on the surface of the moon and Mars, with the aim of creating a regular human presence on far heavenly bodies. The future of travel to space depends on building missile engines that can push vehicles further and do faster. Nuclear thermal payment Currently at the forefront of new engine technologies It aims to significantly reduce travel time while allowing a heavier load.

Travel faster than before

Nuclear payment uses a nuclear reactor to heat the liquid motivation into very high temperatures, converted into a gas that has been expelled through a nozzle and used to generate the trend. The newly developed engine concept, which is called the CNTR, uses the CNTR, liquid uranium to heat the missile motivation directly. When doing this, the engine is with more efficiency of traditional chemical missiles, as well research Posted in Acta astronauts.

If it proves its success, Cntr may allow future vehicles to travel further using less fuel. Traditional chemical engines produce about 450 seconds of orientation of a certain amount of motivation, a scale known as the specified motivation. Nuclear payment engines can reach about 900 seconds, with CNTR may push this number up.

Spencer Christian, a PhD student in Ohio and the leader of CNTR, said, statement. “Depending on its success, the model Cntr drives us to the future.”

Cntr is faster ways, but it can also use different types of motivation, such as ammonia, methane, hydrazzin, or propane, which can be found in asteroids or other organisms in space.

This concept is still in its cradle, and some engineering challenges remain before Cntr can transfer tasks to Mars. Engineers work to ensure that starting, closing and operating the engine does not cause instability, while finding ways to reduce liquid uranium loss to a minimum.

“We have a very good understanding of our design physics, but there are still technical challenges that we need to overcome,” said Dean Wang, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Space Engineering in Ohio, a senior member of the CNTR project. “We need to maintain nuclear payment as a fixed priority in the future, so that technology can have time to mature.”