162
PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
clear engine often cracked the fuel bundles, causing the ship to break
apart. Corrosion due to burning hydrogen at high temperatures was
also a persistent problem. The nuclear rocket program was finally
closed in 1972.
(These atomic rockets had yet another problem: the danger of a
runaway nuclear reaction, as in a small atomic bomb. Although commercial nuclear power plants today run on diluted nuclear fuel and
cannot explode like a Hiroshima bomb, these atomic rockets, in order
to create maximum thrust, operated on highly enriched uranium and
hence could explode in a chain reaction, creating a tiny nuclear detonation. When the nuclear rocket program was about to be retired, scientists decided to perform one last test. They decided to blow up a
rocket, like a small atomic bomb. They removed the control rods
[which keep the nuclear reaction in check]. The reactor went supercritical and blew up in a fiery ball of flames. This spectacular demise
of the nuclear rocket program was even captured on film. The Russians were not pleased. They considered this stunt to be a violation of
the Limited Test Ban Treaty, which banned above-ground detonations
of nuclear bombs.)
Over the years the military has periodically revisited the nuclear
rocket. One secret project was called the Timberwind nuclear rocket;
it was part of the military's Star Wars project in the 1980s. (It was abandoned after details of its existence were released by the Federation of
American Scientists.)
The main concern about the nuclear fission rocket is safety. Even
fifty years into the space age, chemical booster rockets undergo catastrophic failure about 1 percent of the time. (The two failures of the
Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttles, tragically killing fourteen astronauts, further confirmed this failure rate.)
Nonetheless, in the past few years NASA has resumed research on
the nuclear rocket for the first time since the NERVA program of the
1960s. In 2003 NASA christened a new project, Prometheus, named for
the Greek god who gave fire to humanity. In 2005 Prometheus was
funded at $430 million, although that funding was significantly cut to
$100 million in 2006. The project's future is unclear.
PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
clear engine often cracked the fuel bundles, causing the ship to break
apart. Corrosion due to burning hydrogen at high temperatures was
also a persistent problem. The nuclear rocket program was finally
closed in 1972.
(These atomic rockets had yet another problem: the danger of a
runaway nuclear reaction, as in a small atomic bomb. Although commercial nuclear power plants today run on diluted nuclear fuel and
cannot explode like a Hiroshima bomb, these atomic rockets, in order
to create maximum thrust, operated on highly enriched uranium and
hence could explode in a chain reaction, creating a tiny nuclear detonation. When the nuclear rocket program was about to be retired, scientists decided to perform one last test. They decided to blow up a
rocket, like a small atomic bomb. They removed the control rods
[which keep the nuclear reaction in check]. The reactor went supercritical and blew up in a fiery ball of flames. This spectacular demise
of the nuclear rocket program was even captured on film. The Russians were not pleased. They considered this stunt to be a violation of
the Limited Test Ban Treaty, which banned above-ground detonations
of nuclear bombs.)
Over the years the military has periodically revisited the nuclear
rocket. One secret project was called the Timberwind nuclear rocket;
it was part of the military's Star Wars project in the 1980s. (It was abandoned after details of its existence were released by the Federation of
American Scientists.)
The main concern about the nuclear fission rocket is safety. Even
fifty years into the space age, chemical booster rockets undergo catastrophic failure about 1 percent of the time. (The two failures of the
Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttles, tragically killing fourteen astronauts, further confirmed this failure rate.)
Nonetheless, in the past few years NASA has resumed research on
the nuclear rocket for the first time since the NERVA program of the
1960s. In 2003 NASA christened a new project, Prometheus, named for
the Greek god who gave fire to humanity. In 2005 Prometheus was
funded at $430 million, although that funding was significantly cut to
$100 million in 2006. The project's future is unclear.