Revised: May 2007

As NASA plans for manned spacecraft to return to the Moon and to travel to Mars, the question of powering these missions naturally arises. Solar power, while available without let or hindrance in the inner solar system, has its drawbacks:

• As one travels farther and farther from the Sun, it grows dimmer and dimmer. By the time a spacecraft arrives at Neptune or Pluto, the Sun looks more like a bright star than like the great glowing globe we are familiar with on Earth.
• An array of solar panels that would run a base on the Moon or Mars would be bulky and subject to constant bombardament from meteorites. On Mars, the array would also face sandstorms.
• The lunar night lasts about two weeks. A lunar base depending on solar panels would need to charge banks of bulky, heavy batteries to cover that long stretch, which would take more panels than just those needed to run the base.

All items are available at the Headquarters Library, except as noted. NASA Headquarters employees and contractors: call (358-0172) or email Library@hq.nasa.gov for information on borrowing or in-library use of any of these items. Members of the public, contact your Local Library for the availability of these items. NASA Headquarters employees can request additional materials or research on this topic. The Library welcomes your comments or suggestions about this webpage.

NASA Policies

HQOWI8710-GD000014: Coordinate Nuclear Launch Safety Approval Process

 

NASA Policy Directive 1820.1B: NASA Environmental Health Program

 

NASA Procedural Requirements 7120.5C: NASA Program and Project Management Processes and Requirements

 

NASA Procedural Requirements 8715.2: NASA Emergency Preparedness Plan Procedural Requirements

 

NASA Procedural Requirements 8715.3B: NASA General Safety Program Requirements

Books

Angelo, Joseph A. Nuclear Technology. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004.

TK9145 .A55 2004 BOOKSTACKS

 

Bowles, Mark D. Science in Flux: NASA's Nuclear Program at Plum Brook Station, 1955-2005. Washington, DC: NASA History Division, 2006.

TK9230 .B69 2006 BOOKSTACKS

Also available through NTRS as document no. 20060027114.

 

Dewar, James A. To the End of the Solar System: The Story of the Nuclear Rocket. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2004.

TL783.5 .D48 2004 BOOKSTACKS

 

Dyson, George. Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Co., 2002.

TL783.5 .D95 2002 BOOKSTACKS

 

Friedensen, Victoria Pidgeon. Protest Space: A Study of Technology Choice, Perception of Risk, and Space Exploration. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1999.

TL1102 .N8 F75 1999 BOOKSTACKS

 

International Seminar on Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems Toward Zero Release of Radioactive Wastes. Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems Toward Zero Release of Radioactive Wastes. Oxford, UK: Pergamon, 2002.

TD812 .A37 2002 BOOKSTACKS

 

Mulgrew, Kate. Of Ashes and Atoms: The Story of the NASA Plum Brook Reactor Facility. Cleveland, OH: NASA Glenn Research Center, 2004.

QC786.43.U6 O4 2004 VIDEO COLLECTION

 

Murray, Raymond L. Nuclear Energy: An Introduction to the Concepts, Systems, and Applications of Nuclear Processes. Boston, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001.

TK9145 .M87 2001 BOOKSTACKS

 

National Research Council. Committee on Priorities for Space Science Enabled by Nuclear Power and Propulsion. Priorities in Space Science Enabled by Nuclear Power and Propulsion. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2006.

TL1102 .N8 P75 2006 BOOKSTACKS

 

Project Daedalus Study Group. Project Daedalus: The Final Report on the BIS Starship Study. London, UK: Space Educational Aids, 1978.

TL795 .P7 1978 BOOKSTACKS

 

Stanculescu, A. The Role of Nuclear Power and Nuclear Propulsion in the Peaceful Exploration of Space. Vienna, Austria: International Atomic Energy Agency, 2005.

TL1102 .N8 I34 2005 BOOKSTACKS

 

United States. General Accounting Office. NASA's Space Vision: Business Case for Prometheus 1 Needed to Ensure Requirements Match Available Resources: Report to Congressional Requesters. Washington, DC: The Office, 2005.

TL521.312 .N364 2005 BOOKSTACKS

 

__________. Space Exploration: Power Sources for Deep Space Probes: Report to the Honorable Barbara Boxer, U.S. Senate. Washington, DC: The Office, 1998.

TL1102 .N8 U54 1998 BOOKSTACKS

Articles and Reports

Ballard, Richard O. "REIMR - A Process for Utilizing Liquid Rocket Propulsion-Oriented 'Lessons Learned' to Mitigate Development Risk in Nuclear Thermal Propulsion", in Ninth AIAA/ASME Joint Thermophysics and Heat Transfer Conference, San Francisco, CA, 5-8 June 2006.

(20060024932: (2006) NTRS)

 

Borowski, Stanley K. "'Bimodal' Nuclear Thermal Rocket (BNTR) Propulsion for Future Human Mars Exploration Missions", in 2003 NASA Seal/Secondary Air System Workshop, vol. I, NASA/CP-2004-212963, Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH, Sept. 2004.

(20040182399: (Sept. 2004) NTRS)

 

Borowski, Stanley K., and Leonard A. Dudzinski. "2001: A Space Odyssey" Revisited: The Feasibility of 24 Hour Commuter Flights to the Moon Using NTR Propulsion with LUNOX Afterburners; Revised. NASA/TM-1998-208830. Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH, Dec. 2001.

(20020022207: (Dec. 2001) NTRS)

 

Deutsch, Claude. Fusion Reactions and Matter-Antimatter Annihilation for Space Propulsion. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Orsay, France, 13 July 2005.

(ADA446638: (24 May 2006) DTIC)

 

Dhillon, Harry. "Providing a Policy Foundation for Nuclear Propulsion in Space", Ad Astra, vol. XIV, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 2002), p. 33-36.

 

Downey, James R., Anthony M. Forestier, and David E. Miller. Flying Reactors: The Political Feasibility of Nuclear Power in Space. Air University School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Maxwell AFB, AL, April 2004.

(ADA425874: (April 2004) DTIC)

 

Grey, Jerry (moderator). "Nuclear propulsion and power for space: A roundtable discussion", Aerospace America, vol. XLII, no. 11 (Nov. 2004), p. 26-29.

 

Hansson, Anders. "Nuclear power and propulsion in space", Space Policy, vol. XVII, no. 4 (Nov. 2001), p. 241-242.

Mr. Hansson was the guest editor of this issue of Space Policy, which was a special issue on nuclear power and propulsion in space. These are his notes on the subject.

 

Houts, Mike, Shannon Bragg-Sitton, Tom Godfroy, et al. "Testing in Support of Fission Surface Power System Qualification", in Space Technology and Applications International Forum, Albuquerque, NM, 11-15 Feb. 2007.

(20070016693: (2007) NTRS)

 

Osenar, Michael J. "A Comparison of Nuclear Thermal and Nuclear Electric Propulsion for Interplanetary Missions", in AIAA Space 2004 Conference and Exhibit, San Diego, CA, 28-30 Sept. 2004.

(ADA431030: (6 April 2005) DTIC)

 

Powell, James, Goerge Maise, and John Paniagua. "Is NTP the key to exploring space?", Aerospace America, vol. XLII, no. 1 (Jan. 2004), p. 36-42.

 

Williams, Craig H., Leonard A. Dudzinski, Stanley K. Borowski, and Albert J. Juhasz. Realizing "2001: A Space Odyssey": Piloted Spherical Torus Nuclear Fusion Propulsion. NASA/TM-2005-213559. Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH, March 2005.

(20050160960: (March 2005) NTRS)

 

Wright, Mike. "Marshall Space Flight Center and the Reactor-in-Flight Stage: A Look Back at Using Nuclear Propulsion to Power Space Vehicles in the 1960's", in Thirty-Ninth AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, Huntsville, AL, 20-23 July 2003.

(20030066010: (2003) NTRS)

Internet Resources

Dunbar, Bryan. Warp Drive, When? 17 March 2006 [16 May 2007].

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/research/warp/warp.html

 

Meyer, Michael L. Breakthrough Propulsion Physics. 12 Oct. 2006 [16 May 2007].

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/bpp/index.html

 

O'Connor, Bryan. Office of Safety and Mission Assurance. 27 April 2007 [15 May 2007].

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codeq/

 

Pline, Alex. Exploration Technology Development Program. 7 Feb. 2007 [16 May 2007].

http://exploration.nasa.gov/programs/systems.html

 

__________. Prometheus Nuclear Systems and Technology - Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. 7 Feb. 2007 [16 May 2007].

http://exploration.nasa.gov/programs/prometheus/peis/

Pike, John. Space Nuclear Power/Nuclear Thermal Propulsion. 13 Dec. 2006 [16 May 2007].

http://www.fas.org/nuke/space/

 

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources In Outer Space. 2006 [16 May 2007].

http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/SpaceLaw/nps.html

 

United States. Department of Energy. Office of Nuclear Energy. Public Information Center. Program Fact Sheets. 11 Feb. 2007 [16 May 2007].

http://www.ne.doe.gov/publicInformation/nePIProgramFactSheets2.html

 

__________. Publications. 14 oct. 2006 [16 May 2007].

http://www.ne.doe.gov/publicInformation/nePIPublications2.html