How do you dump heat in space , you can only radiate it right? Like being in a vacuum flask . Wouldn’t heat just buildup until it all just melted down, or up or in all directions? Difficult one for the techno futurists..
In the case of the nuclear thermal rocket, the hydrogen propellant is also the primary coolant. For a nuclear electric solution you'd certainly need radiators as a heat sink for the primary or secondary coolant circuit.
What about using nuclear electric propulsion to accelerate a long-haul ship up to cruising speed, with all the heavy life support gear but no actual crew? Have it loop around the Sun, then start accelerating as it's coming back around toward Earth, so it's going full speed on course for Mars as it passes us.
Then use a nuclear thermal rocket to get the crew aboard. That rocket doesn't need to carry anything but the crew and just enough air to keep them alive while it matches velocity. The rocket docks with the "freighter," transfers the crew, and rides along. Then it's reused to decelerate at the other end, so the crew can land safely on Mars instead of doing their best Chicxulub asteroid impression.
Before any of this, of course, you'd need another freighter to deliver life support gear to the Mars colony itself. Since that mission would be entirely uncrewed, it wouldn't be under time pressure and could accelerate and decelerate on its own.
(All that said, I have to admit that I'm not quite sure of the point of colonizing Mars in the first place. You go to all that trouble to get humans out of Earth's gravity well, just to drop them down Mars's? Why not focus on self-sustaining space colonies instead? Rotational gravity, water for radiation shielding, hydroponics, etc. It's a lot, but once you've got it figured out, the Solar System is your oyster. You can mine asteroids for metals and comets for water and organics to build more colonies; and if you do decide to visit another planet, you can take your time getting there. And you've even laid the foundations for generation ships to reach the stars.)
I love your thinking! Your suitcase can arrive by nuclear electric, but the brave colonists will fly by atomic rocket instead. Why waste time? Drinks in the first class cabin etc... 😁
How do you dump heat in space , you can only radiate it right? Like being in a vacuum flask . Wouldn’t heat just buildup until it all just melted down, or up or in all directions? Difficult one for the techno futurists..
In the case of the nuclear thermal rocket, the hydrogen propellant is also the primary coolant. For a nuclear electric solution you'd certainly need radiators as a heat sink for the primary or secondary coolant circuit.
What about using nuclear electric propulsion to accelerate a long-haul ship up to cruising speed, with all the heavy life support gear but no actual crew? Have it loop around the Sun, then start accelerating as it's coming back around toward Earth, so it's going full speed on course for Mars as it passes us.
Then use a nuclear thermal rocket to get the crew aboard. That rocket doesn't need to carry anything but the crew and just enough air to keep them alive while it matches velocity. The rocket docks with the "freighter," transfers the crew, and rides along. Then it's reused to decelerate at the other end, so the crew can land safely on Mars instead of doing their best Chicxulub asteroid impression.
Before any of this, of course, you'd need another freighter to deliver life support gear to the Mars colony itself. Since that mission would be entirely uncrewed, it wouldn't be under time pressure and could accelerate and decelerate on its own.
(All that said, I have to admit that I'm not quite sure of the point of colonizing Mars in the first place. You go to all that trouble to get humans out of Earth's gravity well, just to drop them down Mars's? Why not focus on self-sustaining space colonies instead? Rotational gravity, water for radiation shielding, hydroponics, etc. It's a lot, but once you've got it figured out, the Solar System is your oyster. You can mine asteroids for metals and comets for water and organics to build more colonies; and if you do decide to visit another planet, you can take your time getting there. And you've even laid the foundations for generation ships to reach the stars.)
I love your thinking! Your suitcase can arrive by nuclear electric, but the brave colonists will fly by atomic rocket instead. Why waste time? Drinks in the first class cabin etc... 😁