Date of Award
2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Engineering (MSE)
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Committee Chair
Jason Cassibry
Committee Member
Dale Thomas
Committee Member
Gabe Xu
Subject(s)
Space vehicles--Propulsion systems--Mathematical models, Nuclear propulsion, Space trajectories
Abstract
Centrifugal nuclear thermal propulsion (CNTP) has potential for supporting scientific missions to the outer solar system, shown by investigation of mission and vehicle architectures to the outer planets and Kuiper belt. The patched conic method provided initial guesses for numerical simulation and relationships between parameters of interest for trade studies, recommending engine performance parameters for missions supported by CNTP. Results of the patched conic model were validated by comparison to numerical results, which were within the expected variance for transit time with identical propellant margins based on literature. The trade studies gave a range of performance required to close rendezvous missions to the outer planets for 2 mT payload dry mass. These ranges were 1200-1800 s, 10-70 kN, and 1.5-4 T/W for direct trajectory transit times of 2, 3.5, 7.5, and 10.5 years to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Kuiper belt missions required 1600-1800 s, >60 kN, and >3.7 for transit times between 10 and 16 years depending on the trajectory type.
Recommended Citation
Ziehm, William, "An investigation of mission designs to the outer solar system supported by centrifugal nuclear thermal propulsion" (2023). Theses. 611.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-theses/611