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MITEE: A Compact Ultralight Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Engine for Planetary Science Missions
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Powell, Jeffrey R. Maise, George Paniagua, John |
| Copyright Year | 2001 |
| Abstract | A new approach for a near-term compact, ultralight nuclear thermal propulsion engine, termed MITEE (MIniature ReacTor EnginE) is described. MITEE enables a wide range of new and unique planetary science missions that are not possible with chemical rockets. With U-235 nuclear fuel and hydrogen propellant the baseline MITEE engine achieves a specific impulse of ~1000 seconds, a thrust of 28,000 newtons, and a total mass of only 140 kilograms, including reactor, controls, and turbo-pump. Using higher performance nuclear fuels like U-233, engine mass can be reduced to as little as 80 kilograms. Using MITEE, V additions of 20 km/sec for missions to outer planets are possible compared to only 10 km/sec for H2/O2 engines. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/outerplanets2001/pdf/4084.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
