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 […]
Fusion Ignition
To build a fusion rocket we first need to “ignite” the reaction, which is what this article will cover. We will dive into what fusion ignition is, the broad methods that are used to try and achieve it, and related concepts that try to push outside of the normal fusion nomenclature. Ignition and Other Important […]
The First US RTG
A look at the beginnings of radioisotope thermoelectric generators
Fusion Fuels
Nuclear fusion is often seen as the “Holy Grail” of power generation and rocketry. It powers stars and our most powerful weapons, and is ~4X more energy dense than even mighty fission. Fusion is much harder to make occur than fission though, and the choice of fusion fuel has massive implications on both the utility […]
Timber Wind: America’s Return to Nuclear Thermal Rockets
Hello, and welcome to Beyond NERVA! Today, we’re continuing to look at the pebble bed nuclear thermal rocket (check out the most recent blog post on the origins of the PBR nuclear thermal rocket here)! Sorry it took so long to get this out… between the huge amount of time it took just to find […]
Pebblebed NTRs: Solid Fuel, but Different
Hello, and welcome back to Beyond NERVA! Today, we’re going to take a break from the closed cycle gas core nuclear thermal rocket (which I’ve been working on constantly since mid-January) to look at one of the most popular designs in modern NTR history: the pebblebed reactor! This I should have covered between solid and […]
The Nuclear Lightbulb – A Brief Introduction
Hello, and welcome back to Beyond NERVA! Really quickly, I apologize that I haven’t published more recently. Between moving to a different state, job hunting, and the challenges we’re all facing with the current medical situation worldwide, this post is coming out later than I was hoping. I have been continuing to work in the […]
Radiator LNTR: The Last of the Line
Hello, and welcome back to Beyond NERVA! Today, we’re finishing (for now) our in-depth look at liquid fueled nuclear thermal rockets, by looking at the second major type of liquid NTR (LNTR): the radiator-type LNTR. If you’re just joining us, make sure to check out the introduction (available here) and the bubbler post (available here) […]
The Bubbler: Liquid NTRs Without Barriers
Hello, and welcome back to Beyond NERVA! Today, we continue our look at liquid fueled nuclear thermal rockets (LNTRs), with a deep dive into the first of the two main types: what I call the bubbler LNTR. This potentially attractive form of advanced NTR is a design that has been largely forgotten in the history […]
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 […]
Liquid Fueled NTRs: An Introduction
Hello, and welcome back to Beyond NERVA! Today we continue our look into advanced NTR fuel types, by diving into an extended look at one of the least covered design types in this field: the liquid fueled NTR (LNTR). This is a complex field, with many challenges unique to the phase state of the fuel, […]