Calculated performance of a mercury-compressor-jet powered airplane using a nuclear reactor as an energy source

An analysis was made at a flight Mach number of 1.5, an altitude of 45,000 feet, a turbine-inlet temperature of 1460 degrees R, of a mercury compressor-jet powered airplane using a nuclear reactor as an energy source. The calculations covered a range of turbine-exhaust and turbine-inlet pressures and condenser-inlet Mach numbers. For a turbine--inlet pressure of 40 pounds per square inch absolute, a turbine-exhaust pressure of 14 pounds per square inch absolute, and a condenser-inlet Mach number of 0.23 the calculated airplane gross weight required to carry a 20,000 pound payload was 322000 pounds and the reactor heat release per unit volume was 8.9 kilowatts per cubic inch. These do not represent optimum operating conditions.