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Solar Electric Propulsion for Mars ExplorationHighly propellant-efficient electric propulsion is being combined with advanced solar power technology to provide a non-nuclear transportation option for the human exploration of Mars. By virtue of its high specific impulse, electric propulsion offers a greater change in spacecraft velocity for each pound of propellant than do conventional chemical rockets. As a result, a mission to Mars based on solar electric propulsion (SEP) would require fewer heavy-lift launches than a traditional all-chemical space propulsion scenario would. Performance, as measured by mass to orbit and trip time, would be comparable to the NASA design reference mission for human Mars exploration, which utilizes nuclear thermal propulsion; but it would avoid the issues surrounding the use of nuclear reactors in space.
Document ID
20050181421
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Other
Authors
Hack, Kurt J.
(NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
April 1, 1998
Publication Information
Publication: Research and Technology 1997
Subject Category
Aircraft Propulsion And Power
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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