How Fast Could (Should) We Go to Mars?

Comparing Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP)

with the Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR)

I flight
In fli ht human
h Mars
M round-trip
d t i mission
i i time
ti
from low Earth orbit (LEO)
400
NTR

α=10 45-50
350

S P A C E R A D I A T I O N D O S E TO C R E W
38-40
In-Flight Time[days]

300
α=6

250 30-36

Slight blood
NEP α=4
26-28 changes
200

α=2 19-21 6 month stay on

150 ISS (solar min)
α=1
MISSION PARAMETERS:
Depart LEO with initial mass=356.4 t, payload= 62 t, 13-14 6 month stay on
100 NTR: Mtank/MLH2 = 0.25, MNTR = 42 t, Isp = 950 sec ISS (solar max)
(ref NASA DRA 5.0) Max US
VASIMR/NEP: rocket efficiency ƞ=70%, Isp occupational
variable with Constant Power Throttle (CPT), tank 6-7 (rem) exposure
50 mass fraction=10%, Mars arrival Vel=10 km/s
Average dose
Effective radiation dose data assumes 40 g/cm2 Al
for hospital
shielding (Koontz et. al. NASA/JSC) radiologists
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
P[MW]
DESCRIPTION. Reducing the round-trip in-flight time on a human mission to Mars reduces the
radiation dose to the crew (vertical arrow), which increases with trip time. The green curves
show the total round-trip in-flight time vs the NEP rocket’s power for various values of α
ranging from 1 to 10 (α is a measure in kg/kW of how “light” the nuclear reactor and engine
package could be). For each α there is a minimum trip time and a corresponding power level
that satisfies the mission requirements. The horizontal red dashed line shows round-trip time
using an NTR. Nuclear electric space reactors with α <10 do not yet exist, but compelling
designs have been proposed by recognized experts worldwide (ref1). These must be developed
to e
enable
ab e fast
ast missions
ss o s to Mars
asa and
d a robust
obust human
u a e exploration
p o at o o
of tthe
e so
solar
a syste
system. (Sou
(Source:
ce
Ad Astra Rocket Company, October, 2012).

ref 1: Multi-MW Closed Cycle MHD Nuclear Space Power Via Nonequilibrium He/Xe Working Plasma;
Ron J. Litchford1 and Nobuhiro Harada2,(1) NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812; (2)
Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka 940-2188, Japan