Nuclear thermal rocket

In a nuclear thermal rocket a working fluid, usually hydrogen, is heated in a high temperature nuclear reactor, and then expands through a rocket nozzle to create thrust. The nuclear reactor's energy replaces the chemical energy of the reactive chemicals in a traditional rocket engine. Due to the high energy of the nuclear reactions compared to chemical ones, about 107 times, the resulting efficiency of the engine is at least twice as good as chemical engines even considering the weight of the reactor, and even higher for advanced designs.

Related Topics:
Hydrogen - Nuclear reactor - Rocket nozzle - Thrust - Rocket engine - Energy of the nuclear reactions compared to chemical ones

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