The Utility of Nuclear Power and Propulsion For Commercially Viable Lunar and Mars Exploration
- Paper number
IAC-05-C3.5-C4.7.08
- Author
Mr. Roger X. Lenard, Sandia National Laboratories, United States
- Year
2005
- Abstract
An end-to-end study of the impact of nuclear electrical power and nuclear electric propulsion toward commercially viable lunar and Mars exploration has been performed. The nuclear power system that is used for nuclear electric propulsion is a 1500 kWth gas-cooled reactor coupled to a recuperated brayton cycle system. This same power system was analyzed for compatibility to a lunar base and a Mars base. The lunar base and Mars bases employed high levels of in-situ resources, thereby requiring high power levels. The lunar base provided all propellant for lunar ascent and descent propulsion, additionally lunar resources were employed for the Trans-Mars Injection stage. The lunar and Mars bases also used high closure levels of human life support, therefore needing substantial levels of electrical power. The analysis showed that electrical power results in a potential for high profitability with modest prices for each crew member using the lunar and Mars base. This architecture also dramatically minimizes Earth-to-Orbit launches, thereby diminishing the direct impact of launch costs to orbit. It will be shown that employing this architecture will allow costs of base use that are sufficiently low that many nations can become involved in the use of commercial lunar and Mars bases.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-05-C3.5-C4.7.08.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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