Transport and Energy Module: Russia’s new NEP Tug
Hello, and welcome back to Beyond NERVA! Today’s blog post is a special one, spurred on by the announcement recently about the Transport and Energy Module, Russia’s new nuclear electric space tug! Because of the extra post, the next post on liquid fueled NTRs will come out on Monday or Tuesday next week. This is […]
Topaz International part II: The Transition to Collaboration
Hello, and welcome back to Beyond NERVA! Before we begin, I would like to announce that our Patreon page, at https://www.patreon.com/beyondnerva, is live! This blog consumes a considerable amount of my time, and being able to pay my bills is of critical importance to me. If you are able to support me, please consider doing […]
SNAP-50: The Last of the SNAP Reactors
Hello, and welcome to Beyond NERVA, for our first blog post of the year! Today, we reach the end of the reactor portion of the SNAP program. A combination of the holidays and personal circumstances prevented me from finishing this post as early as I would have liked to, but it’s finally here! Check the […]
History of US Astronuclear Reactors part 1: SNAP-2 and 10A
Hello, and welcome to Beyond NERVA! Today we’re going to look at the program that birthed the first astronuclear reactor to go into orbit, although the extent of the program far exceeds the flight record of a single launch. Before we get into that, I have a minor administrative announcement that will develop into major […]
Nuclear Electric Propulsion History Part 1: The Soviet Astronuclear Program
Hello, and welcome back to Beyond NERVA, where we’re getting back into issues directly related to nuclear power in space, rather than how that power is used (as we’ve examined in our last three blog posts on electric propulsion)! However, the new Electric Propulsion page is up on the website, including a summary of all […]
Electric Propulsion Part 2: Electrostatic Propulsion
Hello, and welcome back to Beyond NERVA! Today, we finish our look at electric propulsion systems by looking at electrostatic propulsion. This is easily the most common form of in-space electric propulsion system, and as we saw in our History of Electric Propulsion post, it’s also the first that was developed. I apologize about how […]
Electric Propulsion: The Oldest “Futuristic” Propulsion Possibility
Hello, and welcome back to Beyond NERVA. Today, we are looking at a very popular topic, but one that doesn’t necessarily require nuclear power: electric propulsion. However, it IS an area that nuclear power plants are often tied to, because the amount of thrust available is highly dependent on the amount of power available for […]