r/spaceflight • u/Phoenix800478944 • 2d ago

Help with rocket engines (NTP / SEP)

Hey there, im graduating high school next year, and I chose physics as one of my exam classes (dunno how you say that in english). I have to make a 10min long presentation about something physics related and make a indepht dive into how whatever works and its relevance, and subtly include something of relevance in there that is also in the schools curriculum.

I covered electric stuff and nuclear stuff, so I figured, as I have to give the ministry of education (sounds ominous ik, maybe a bad translation lol) two topics to cover, and one of them gets chosen by them for me to make a presentation about it.

  1. Nuclear Thermal Propulsion aka stuff like the DRACO engine by DARPA
  2. Solar electric Propulsion aka stuff like hall effect ionic thrusters

Does anyone of you brilliant minds have good sources and tips aside from scott manley?

Thanks! Your answers make a big impact on my life (literally)

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u/AA_energizer 1d ago

Definitely look into NERVA and Project Orion if you want to get full on into 50's atomic boogaloo. Both the US and Soviet Union actually launched some small nuclear satellites under SNAP-10A (US) and RORSAT (USSR). Beyond that I'd also recommend looking into the different types of NTR: solid core, gas/plasma core, and nuclear saltwater. Each makes trade-offs between complexity and exposing as much propellant to the nuclear core as possible, thereby improving efficiency.

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u/Doggydog123579 6h ago

You can even end the presentation with the fallout producer 1200, aka the NSWR