Priorities in Space Science Enabled by Nuclear Power and Propulsion (2006) / Chapter Skim
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8 Applications of Nuclear Power and Propulsion in Astronomy and Astrophysics: Missions
8 Applications of Nuclear Power and Propulsion in Astronomy and Astrophysics: Missions
Pages 91-99
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From page 91... ...
APPLICATIONS OF NUCLEAR POWER AND PROPULSION IN ASTRONOMY AND PHYSICS: MISSIONS 91 8 Applications of Nuclear Power and Propulsion in Astronomy and Astrophysics: Missions NUCLEAR POWER AND PROPULSION FOR SPECIFIC ASTROPHYSICAL APPLICATIONS To gauge the possibility that radioisotope power systems (RPSs) and/or fission reactors might enhance or enable the achievement of important astrophysical goals, this chapter examines several types of astrophysical missions for which nuclear systems might potentially be considered.
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From page 92... ...
92 PRIORITIES IN SPACE SCIENCE ENABLED BY NUCLEAR POWER AND PROPULSION FIGURE 8.1 Diagram illustrating that there is little justification for astronomical interferometry on baselines longer than the Earth-Sun distance (1 AU)
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From page 93... ...
APPLICATIONS OF NUCLEAR POWER AND PROPULSION IN ASTRONOMY AND PHYSICS: MISSIONS 93 may offer a faster transit to 50 AU than would nuclear-electric propulsion (NEP)
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From page 94... ...
94 PRIORITIES IN SPACE SCIENCE ENABLED BY NUCLEAR POWER AND PROPULSION they will remain so is a primary issue. However, quantifying the deleterious effects of interference, and projecting them into the future, is extremely difficult.
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From page 95... ...
APPLICATIONS OF NUCLEAR POWER AND PROPULSION IN ASTRONOMY AND PHYSICS: MISSIONS 95 The maximization of scientific benefit per dollar invested involves a complex trade-off between the advantages offered by the superior ~3- to 5-AU environment versus the larger mass/aperture and earlier operations obtainable for the same cost with a telescope located at the Sun-Earth L2 or the Spitzer-like drift-away orbits. Two major possibilities and one mission of opportunity are considered below.
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From page 96... ...
96 PRIORITIES IN SPACE SCIENCE ENABLED BY NUCLEAR POWER AND PROPULSION · Microlensing Parallax Mapper. The amplification of background stars in the Local Group galaxies through gravitational lensing by foreground stars or dark masses is now routinely detected.
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From page 97... ...
APPLICATIONS OF NUCLEAR POWER AND PROPULSION IN ASTRONOMY AND PHYSICS: MISSIONS 97 operations at nonshadowed 1-AU locations, solar-electric power generation is a low-risk, low-cost benchmark against which any nuclear system application must be measured. Current Cassini-class radioisotope thermoelectric generators weigh 56 kg and provide 285 We or 190 kg/ kWe, about 20 times the mass/power ratio of solar-electric power at 1 AU, and the proposed Stirling radioisotope generators have even lower mass/power ratios.b Thus, such power systems do not become cost-effective until well beyond 3 AU except in locations that are shadowed for long periods (e.g., the lunar surface)
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From page 98... ...
Although these opportunities also do not address major, high-priority questions in astronomy and astrophysics, they may be considered as cost-effective add-ons. Finally, the direct measurement of the properties of the local interstellar medium beyond the heliosphere is of astronomical interest, although again it is not a high-priority goal enunciated in either Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium or Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos.
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From page 99... ...
2. See, for example, National Research Council, The Decade of Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1991, pp.
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