Solar Rocket System Concept Analysis

Abstract

The objective of the solar rocket concept analysis was to determine the potential value of solar-thermal rockets in large delta velocity space missions. A specific impulse of 872 seconds was achieved by passing hydrogen through a heat exchanger placed at the focal spot of a large parabolic dish solar concentrator mirror. With a windowed chamber type of thruster and a particle-laden hydrogen flow the specific impulse was 1041 seconds. Inflatable construction techniques were determined to be optimum for the large concentrating mirrors based on ease of deployment and low specific mass. It was concluded that the solar rocket offers the mission planner a viable option between the high payload-long trip time of the mercury ion bombardment system and the lower payload-short trip time of a LO2-LH2 stage. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1979
Accession Number
ADA079117

Entities

People

  • Fred G. Etheridge

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Apogees
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Control Systems
  • Earth Orbits
  • Energy Transfer
  • Engineers
  • Equatorial Orbits
  • Geometry
  • Heat Transfer
  • Inertial Navigation Systems
  • Mechanics
  • Payload
  • Rocket Engines
  • Spacecraft
  • Thermal Propulsion Systems
  • Three Dimensional
  • Transfer Orbits

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Propulsion Engineering.
  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Solar Photovoltaics and Thermoelectric Devices.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster
  • Space - Satellites