A mission study aimed at minimizing the time humans would spend in the space environment is presented. The use of nuclear electric propulsion (NEP), when combined with a suitable mission profile, can reduce the trip time to durations competitive with other propulsion systems. Specifically, a split mission profile utilizing an earth crew capture vehicle accounts for a significant portion of the trip time reduction compared to previous studies. NEP is shown to be capable of performing fast piloted missions to Mars at low power levels using near-term technology and is considered to be a viable candidate for these missions.
Nuclear electric propulsion mission performance for fast piloted Mars missions
01.09.1991
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Keine Angabe
Englisch
Flexible Piloted Mars Missions Using Continuous Electric Propulsion
Online Contents | 2006
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