The KIWI A prime nuclear thermal rocket engineMars Curiosity rover powered by a RTG on Mars. White RTG with fins is visible at far side of rover.
Nuclear power in space is the use of nuclear power in outer space, typically either small fission systems or radioactive decay for electricity or heat. Another use is for scientific observation, as in a Mössbauer spectrometer. The most common type is a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, which has been used on many space probes and on crewed lunar missions. Small fission reactors for Earth observation satellites, such as the TOPAZ nuclear reactor, have also been flown.[1] A radioisotope heater unit is powered by radioactive decay and can keep components from becoming too cold to function, potentially over a span of decades.[2]
The United States tested the SNAP-10A nuclear reactor in space for 43 days in 1965,[3] with the next test of a nuclear reactor power system intended for space use occurring on 13 September 2012 with the Demonstration Using Flattop Fission (DUFF) test of the Kilopower reactor.[4]
After a ground-based test of the experimental 1965 Romashka reactor, which used uranium and direct thermoelectric conversion to electricity,[5] the USSR sent about 40 nuclear-electric satellites into space, mostly powered by the BES-5 reactor. The more powerful TOPAZ-II reactor produced 10 kilowatts of electricity.[3]
Examples of concepts that use nuclear power for space propulsion systems include the nuclear electric rocket (nuclear powered ion thruster(s)), the radioisotope rocket, and radioisotope electric propulsion (REP).[6] One of the more explored concepts is the nuclear thermal rocket, which was ground tested in the NERVA program. Nuclear pulse propulsion was the subject of Project Orion.[7]
^Hyder, Anthony K.; R. L. Wiley; G. Halpert; S. Sabripour; D. J. Flood (2000). Spacecraft Power Technologies. Imperial College Press. p. 256. ISBN 1-86094-117-6.
^"Department of Energy Facts: Radioisotope Heater Units" (PDF). U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Space and Defense Power Systems. December 1998. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 27, 2010. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
^ ab"Nuclear Power In Space". Spacedaily.com. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
^"NASA - Researchers Test Novel Power System for Space Travel - Joint NASA and DOE team demonstrates simple, robust fission reactor prototype". Nasa.gov. 2012-11-26. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
^Ponomarev-Stepnoi, N. N.; Kukharkin, N. E.; Usov, V. A. (March 2000). ""Romashka" reactor-converter". Atomic Energy. 88 (3). New York: Springer: 178–183. doi:10.1007/BF02673156. ISSN 1063-4258. S2CID 94174828.
^"Radioisotope Electric Propulsion : Enabling the Decadal Survey Science Goals for Primitive Bodies" (PDF). Lpi.usra.edu. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
^Everett, C.J.; Ulam S.M. (August 1955). "On a Method of Propulsion of Projectiles by Means of External Nuclear Explosions. Part I" (PDF). Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 25, 2012.
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