미국 항공우주국, NASA, 핵 열추진, NTP

미국 항공우주국(NASA)과 방산기업 제너럴 아토믹스가 핵 열추진(NTP) 로켓 개발의 중요한 이정표를 달성했다고 우주과학매체 스페이스닷컴이 보도했다.

제너럴 아토믹스는 최근 미국 앨라배마에 있는 NASA 마샬 우주비행센터에서 새로운 NTP 원자로 연료를 테스트해 이 연료가 우주의 극한 조건에서 잘 작동한다는 사실을 확인했다. 

 

스콧 포니 제너럴아토믹스 사장은 “우리는 연료가 이러한 작동 조건에서 살아남을 수 있음을 입증하는 긍정적인 테스트 결과에 매우 고무되어 있다”며, “달과 심우주 임무를 위한 안전하고 신뢰할 수 있는 핵 열추진의 잠재력을 실현하는 데 한 걸음 더 다가서게 되었다”고 성명을 통해 밝혔다.

연료 테스트를 위해 제너럴 아토믹스는 샘플을 채취, 뜨거운 수소를 사용해 온도를 섭씨 2천327도까지 빠르게 올리는 총 6번의 열 사이클을 거쳤다. 우주선에 탑재된 모든 핵 열추진 연료는 극한의 온도와 뜨거운 수소 가스에 노출되어도 견딜 수 있어야 한다.


NASA와 제너럴 아토믹스는 최대 섭씨 2,727도의 온도에 노출시켜 테스트한 결과, 높은 온도에서도 연료가 잘 작동한다는 것을 확인했다.

또, 이런 조건에서 연료가 어떻게 견디는 지 테스트하기 위해 추가 테스트를 진행해 다양한 재료가 원자로와 유사한 조건에서 연료의 성능을 어떻게 향상시키는지에 대한 자료도 확보했다.

NASA가 NTP 로켓을 개발하고자 하는 주된 이유 중 하나는 우리가 사용하는 전통적인 화학 연료로 추진되는 로켓보다 훨씬 빠르기 때문이다. 기존 화학연료 기반 로켓을 사용해 인간을 화성에 보내려면 6개월 이상이 걸리지만, 핵 열추진 엔진을 사용하면 45일까지 줄일 수 있다고 알려져 있다.

2023년 NASA와 미군 연구개발 기관 ‘국방고등연구계획국’(DARPA)은 공동으로 유인 우주선을 화성에 보낼 수 있도록 핵 열추진 로켓 엔진을 개발 중이라고 발표했다. 이 기관은 이르면 2027년에 해당 기술을 시연할 계획이다.

 

 

 

 

 

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and defense company General Atomics have achieved an important milestone in the development of nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) rockets, space science media Spacecom reported.

General Atomics recently tested a new NTP reactor fuel at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama and confirmed that it works well in extreme conditions in space.


"We are very encouraged by the positive test results demonstrating that fuel can survive these operating conditions," General Atomics President Scott Pony said in a statement, adding that "we are one step closer to realizing the potential of safe and reliable nuclear thermal propulsion for moon and deep space missions."

General Atomics has taken samples and used hot hydrogen to quickly raise the temperature to 2,327 degrees Celsius for a total of six heat cycles for fuel testing. All nuclear thermal fuels onboard the spacecraft must be able to withstand extreme temperatures and exposure to hot hydrogen gas.


NASA and General Atomics tested it by exposing it to temperatures up to 2,727 degrees Celsius and confirmed that the fuel works well even at high temperatures.

Additionally, additional tests were conducted to test how the fuel was able to withstand these conditions to obtain data on how different materials improved the fuel's performance under reactor-like conditions.

One of the main reasons NASA wants to develop NTP rockets is that they are much faster than the traditional chemical fuel-powered rockets we use. It is known that using nuclear thermal engines can reduce the number of days, but it takes more than six months to send humans to Mars using existing chemical fuel-based rockets.

In 2023, NASA and the U.S. military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced that they are jointly developing a nuclear thermal rocket engine to send a manned spacecraft to Mars. The agency plans to demonstrate the technology as early as 2027.