Priorities in Space Science Enabled by Nuclear Power and Propulsion (2006) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
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.3 Although these reports predate the initiation of Project Prometheus, the community consensus they embody makes them compelling guides to the identification of high-priority science activities in their respective disciplines. Although none of the missions identified in these decadal survey reports as priorities for implementation in the coming decade explicitly require NEP, these reports are not entirely silent 1
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A particularly exciting prospect for the solar system exploration community is the likely availability of a new generation of RPSs that will enable missions ranging from long-lived surface landers to deep atmospheric probes. Similarly, the solar and space physics community is intrigued by the possible uses of nuclear power and propulsion systems to enable complex, multidisciplinary exploration activities in the outer solar system and the local interstellar medium.
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The lunar surface as an observatory site, for example, does not offer any enabling advantages over free space and has the disadvantages of gravity and, potentially, dust. Free space offers the same vacuum as the lunar surface does, and although the lunar polar craters are naturally very cold, passive cooling strategies -- e.g., deployable sunshades-can achieve similarly low temperatures in free space.
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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. Nevertheless, the commit tee has significant reservations about the scientific utility of some of NASA's current nuclear research and development activities, about NASA's current technological approach to the implementation of nuclear propulsion, and about the agency's ability to integrate a new class of large and potentially very expensive nuclear missions into its diverse and healthy mix of current missions.
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But it is necessary to investigate nuclear propulsion technologies more thoroughly to determine if they can provide fast, affordable access to the outer solar system and beyond and can move large payloads in the inner solar system cost-effectively and efficiently. NASA's parametric studies of the potential applications of the NEP system being developed by Project Prometheus indicate that numerous desirable missions -- e.g., a Neptune orbiter and an interstellar probe -- will require a transit time of more than 10 years.
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Recovery from such a decline will not occur quickly. 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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From page 7... ...
Technical, Programmatic, and Infrastructure Issues Finding: Attention has to be paid to a variety of technical and programmatic issues that can affect the scientific utilization of NEP-class missions. These issues include the fraction of a spacecraft's launch mass dedicated to the science payload; high-bandwidth communications; onboard data processing; the capacity of the Deep Space Network, Planetary Data System, and research and analysis programs to handle increasing volumes of data; the availability of radiation-hardened components and radiation tolerant detectors; and mitigation of contamination.
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From page 8... ...
· Contamination mitigation for instruments -- To enhance or enable scientific measurements from spacecraft equipped with nuclear reactors, power and propulsion systems must be "clean" and "stable" in terms of transient magnetic and electric fields, chemical contamination, radiation and charged-particle levels, and vibration. In addition, nuclear reactors should not be operated within Earth's magnetosphere unless it can be demonstrated that interference to other spacecraft caused by primary and secondary gamma rays, electron bremsstrahlung, and positron-annihilation radiation will not occur.
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