Nuclear salt-water rocket
A
nuclear salt-water rocket is a type of
rocket designed by
Robert Zubrin that would be fueled by
water bearing dissolved salts of
plutonium or
U235. These would be stored in tanks that would prevent a
critical mass from forming by some combination of geometry or
neutron absorption. The rocket would be powered by a nuclear-thermal reaction when the water was injected into a reaction chamber.
Calculations show that this rocket would have both very high thrust and a very high specific impulse, a rare combination of traits in the rocket world.
See also: spacecraft propulsion
External link
- Nuke Your Way to the Stars
References:
- R. Zubrin, "Nuclear Salt Water Rockets: High Thrust at 10,000 sec ISP", Journal of the British Interplanetary Society 44, 371-376 (1991)