Question by : Can you you control a nuclear fission reaction to power a spacecraft?
Is it possible to contain a nuclear fission reaction (or better yet, fusion reaction) and direct the thrust from the reaction out the back of a spaceship in order to power it at 0.5 G’s?
Best answer:
Answer by Starrysky
http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/teacher/lessons/contributed/thomas/Adv.prop/advprop.html for NERVA atomic rocket engine, others. Pretty scary if it pollutes or goes wild.
There are plans to use nuclear engines for low thrust for a very long time on space probes. An early ion rocket has been employed on a comet probe. But to achieve 0.5G will take much more mass and shielding than has been attempted or even planned so far.
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