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Nuclear power source for electric propulsionA low specific weight (20 to 40 Kg/Kwe), long life (6 to 10 year), 100 to 400 KWe nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) system can deliver 2,000 to 10,000 Kg payloads for intensive study of our solar system. The nuclear power source is about 80% of the NEP system mass, thus the NASA program is focused on developing the power source technology. Because of the long life requirements, direct thermal to electric energy conversion technology (thermionic and thermoelectric) is being pursued. In order to meet the low specific weight it is necessary to develop a 10 to 15% conversion module with a 875 K minimum heat rejection temperature and a 1675 K maximum input temperature. The thermoionic converter is about 9% efficient at these temperatures. The thermoelectric converter is limited to a 1300 K input temperature. So, the thermionic program is focused on improving the efficiency while the thermoelectric program is focused on increasing the temperature.
Document ID
19800026226
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Mondt, J. F.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Stapfer, G.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Hsieh, T.
(California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena Calif., United States)
Date Acquired
August 10, 2013
Publication Date
October 1, 1979
Subject Category
Spacecraft Propulsion And Power
Report/Patent Number
AIAA PAPER 79-2088
Meeting Information
Meeting: International Electric Propulsion Conference
Location: Princeton, NJ
Start Date: October 30, 1979
End Date: November 1, 1979
Sponsors: Princeton University, AIAA, and DGLR,
Accession Number
80A10396
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS7-100
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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