Tag Archives: propulsion

Launching Spacecraft with Nuclear Bombs

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Trevor Pillow

You might be familiar with the Orion Spacecraft, which is the vehicle being used in NASA’s Artemis series of lunar missions. However, have you ever heard of Project Orion? Most conventional spacecraft are propelled using chemical reactions which create high velocity exhaust that is focused through a rocket nozzle. Newton’s Third Law dictates that the […] Continue reading →

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Solar Sailing Through The Sea of Space

Posted on March 20, 2022 by josephmaquino9

As an imaginative mind might ask: can we use the Sun’s light to propel a spacecraft through space? Surprisingly, this avenue of spacecraft propulsion has, and is being, explored. Figure 1 displays the Japanese IKAROS satellite that was deployed on May 21, 2010. The spacecraft was equipped with a 14 m x 14 m solar […] Continue reading →

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Nuclear Fusion For Rocket Propulsion

Posted on March 19, 2022 by josephmaquino9

Nuclear fusion-where the nuclei of two atoms combine to establish a new atom-serves as the primary process that powers main sequence stars (like our Sun). For stars, nuclear fusion most commonly occurs with two hydrogen atoms fusing to form a helium atom. The result of such fusion processes is the output of great amounts of […] Continue reading →

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