Priorities in Space Science Enabled by Nuclear Power and Propulsion (2006) / Chapter Skim
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9 Findings and Recommendations
9 Findings and Recommendations
Pages 100-108
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discussion of some of the likely technological, programmatic, societal, and budgetary consequences of the potential applications of nuclear power and propulsion systems by the space science community. SPACE SCIENCE APPLICATIONS OF NUCLEAR POWER AND PROPULSION The material presented in Chapters 4 and 6 clearly demonstrates that the availability of nuclear power and propulsion technologies has the potential to enable a rich variety of solar and space physics and solar system exploration missions.
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Finding: Nuclear power and propulsion technologies appear, in general, to have great promise and may in some senses be essential for addressing important space science goals in future decades. This is particularly true for the fields of solar and space physics and solar system exploration, and especially so with respect to near- to mid-term applications of radioisotope power systems.
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102 PRIORITIES IN SPACE SCIENCE ENABLED BY NUCLEAR POWER AND PROPULSION of missions and should be seriously considered for small principal-investigator (PI) -led missions, such as Mars Scout and Discovery.
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FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 103 NASA missions that might be enabled by nuclear propulsion will require high delta-V, fast transit times, and/ or high levels of electric power at the destination. To determine the benefits of nuclear propulsion for such missions will require "level-playing-field" trade-off studies that compare various propulsion options in terms of such metrics as cost, initial mass in low Earth orbit, launch-vehicle requirements, and transit time.
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If NASA's science program is required to cover the development of systems, a substantial decline in expertise and capability will result, and the recovery from this decline will be slow and difficult. Recommendation: The cost of developing advanced power and propulsion technologies, and of imple menting missions employing such technologies, must not be allowed to compromise the diversity of the space science missions recommended by the decadal surveys, because these missions address the most important scientific questions in solar and space physics, solar system exploration, and astronomy and astrophysics and are thus essential to maintaining the long-term health and vitality of the entire space science enterprise.
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FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 105 opposition by relatively large segments of the population in the vicinity of such sites. There are many indications that a significant fraction, if not the majority, of the U.S.
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106 PRIORITIES IN SPACE SCIENCE ENABLED BY NUCLEAR POWER AND PROPULSION support the concept of using an advanced propulsion system to shorten the duration of human missions to Mars. Nuclear power and propulsion systems could also provide the large amounts of electricity necessary for lifesupport systems on human missions and for support of surface science and exploration activities.
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FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 107 and an atmospheric entry probe of mass greater than 300 kg) on a spacecraft with an overall launch mass of less than 6,000 kg.
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2. National Research Council, The Sun to the Earth -- and Beyond: A Decadal Research Strategy in Solar and Space Physics, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2003.
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