A nuclear-thermal rocket pumps a low-molecular-weight propellant, usually liquid hydrogen, directly through a nuclear reactor core. The intense heat of fission rapidly expands the gas, forcing it out a converging-diverging nozzle to produce thrust. By eliminating the heavy oxidizer required in chemical rockets, this design achieves exceptionally high specific impulse, allowing spacecraft to carry heavier payloads or travel much faster across the solar system.
Heard on the job
The old NERVA program proved that a nuclear-thermal rocket could run stably at full thrust for over an hour.
Also heard as
- NTR