Abstract

As future U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) missions aim for destinations farther out into the solar system, space nuclear propulsion (SNP), and in particular nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP), is the only feasible near-term technology able to provide specific impulses of 900 s or greater and thrust in the range of tens of thousands of pounds. To maximize the success of the SNP program as a whole, a Fuel and Moderator Development Plan (FMDP) was created to mature mission critical technology, such as the reactor fuel form and moderator material. This technical note details the conceptual testing reference design that provides the basis for the FMDP for future design and testing activities to meet NASA’s goals.

Through this work BWX Technologies, Inc. and its subsidiaries, referred to as BWXT, continue to be an integral part of government space nuclear programs and has historically been a part of major design, manufacturing, and testing developments. As an example, during the 1990s BWXT supported fuel development for the Space NTP (SNTP) program, an advanced technology development effort aimed at providing the nation with a new and dramatically higher performing rocket engine that would more than double the performance of the best conventional chemical rocket engines. Since 2017, BWXT has been participating in the NASA SNP program for the low-enrichment uranium NTP rocket engine as part of its Game Changing Development feasibility conceptual design program and now more recently Technology Demonstration Mission.

摘要

由于未来美国国家航空航天局 (NASA) 的任务目标是到达太阳系更远的目的地，因此太空核推进 (SNP)，尤其是核热推进 (NTP) 是唯一可行的近期技术，能够提供900 秒或更大的比冲和数万磅范围内的推力。为了最大程度地提高SNP计划的整体成功性，制定了《燃料和减速器开发计划》（FMDP），以完善关键任务技术，例如反应堆燃料形式和减速器材料。本技术说明详细介绍了概念性测试参考设计，该参考设计为FMDP提供了基础，可用于将来的设计和测试活动，以实现NASA的目标。

通过这项工作，BWX Technologies, Inc. 及其子公司（简称 BWXT）继续成为政府太空核计划不可或缺的一部分，并且在历史上一直是主要设计、制造和测试发展的一部分。例如，在 1990 年代，BWXT 支持太空 NTP (SNTP) 计划的燃料开发，这是一项先进的技术开发工作，旨在为国家提供性能显着更高的新型火箭发动机，其性能将是最佳常规发动机的两倍以上。化学火箭发动机。自 2017 年以来，BWXT 一直参与美国宇航局低浓缩铀 NTP 火箭发动机的 SNP 计划，作为其改变游戏规则的开发可行性概念设计计划和最近的技术演示任务的一部分。