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n I IIqur pur puse uT me I ecnm cal Information Center is to provide the broadest dissemination possi- ble of information contained in DOE’s Research and Development Reports to business, indqWry, the academic community, arl~ federal, state al id local governments. Although a small portion of this report is not reproducible, it is being made available to expedite the availability of information on the research discussed herein. &@w42,. -/ LA-UR -B3-449 I u LOS Alamos Natla+ul La80rmfY K opsraw By m Untvwmw d CdIIornIafw moUnltod8W09DoP9mofWof EnorW urWm oonlfoa W. XUMNMO LA-UR--83-449 DE83 007561 TITLE: SPACE NUCLEARPOWERAND MAN’S EXTRATERRESTRIALCIVILIZATION AIITHOR(S):Joseph J. Angelo and David Bud en &oTIum mus2mumuEQl13 Am It has boon reproduaod from th. bgelo oo~ to pemlt tho broadm poamlble●vail- abil;tye SuBMmTEDTo: Twentieth Space Congres~, Cocoa Beach, FL, April 26-28, 1983, MAsml DISCLAIMER TM rwporl WM pmpwod u -n ●?ouunl of work Ipmwod by an qoncy of tlw UrrltdStoIU (kmwmmorrt.Ndllwrho Unlld !iht- Oovwrnrrmm nor wry wrmy Ihararf, mx ●y of lhclr amployam, maha ●ny wsrramy, qffaM w Imphhofuwna snylopl IMW w Wa@ lrlllly fof the murscy, oanpktc-, or utofulrw of -ny lnformden, apporstuu produot, W prrrmua dlsokmod, or m~lm thmt 111 UM would ti Mrlnm pflvatdy ownd rlshl& Rdor. ma hordn to mry spaclflo commmlml pradual, procuk or Mwlca hy trade nmo, tridommk, mmnufaciuror, or MNrwlM doa no! nawosarlly uonnIIIuIs ur Imply III mlornrrwt, rowm. mandstbw, of hvorlng by h UnllodSIdm(bornmonloranywow thoratTIMVIOWI d ophrlom of mrthon emprawrl hmoln do nm rwoemmlly nma or roflool lb of tho Unlial !hta Uovornrrrwm or wry amncy [hwerrf, OIarmDUIIIN dr IRISLIIL::M,ir::ml IJlll~ LosAlamos Na!lonalLaborator AlliallmmlmAlamos,New Mexico 8754i! mnutiouoni SPACE NUCLEAR POWER AND MAN’S EXTRATERRESTRIALCIVILIZATION Dr. Joseph A. A,?gelo,Jr. Mr. David Buden Chafrman, space Technolofaypro9ram Program Manaaer Florida Institute of Techn~loqy Los Alamos National Laboratory Melbourne, FL 32901 Los Alamos, NM 87545 ABSTRACT space exploit~tion-.an era c~ara~t~rf~~(]by Operational flights of the SP?re Chuttle have routine manned nrrcss into cislunar snace. initiated an exciting new era cf s~ace ‘ltill- Humar te.hnlcal development at thp start nf zation and habitation. In f~ct, the s~art the n~xt millennium will be highlioht@d bv of the Third Millennium will be highlighted the creation of man’s extraterrestrialcivil- by the establishment of mafl’sex’:.rat@rres- ization, There are several foundational trfal cli,~lizatton, There jre three technl- tech,nlc~lsteps involved in the off-olanet c~l corn~rstones upon whick human expansion exp~nsirm of the human resource base. These into space will dePend: incluriothe development of reusable s~ace transportation systems; the estahllshment of 1) compact erQrgy sY;temS, es~ecially m?rmanen!ly manned space stations and hase$ power snd proDul!ion modul~s; (Initial’lyIn low-Earth-orbitand, eventllal- ly, throughout cislurtarspace); the develo~- ?) the abilit,yt,,rroct?ssextraterres- ment ~f space-baspd Industries; the creation trial materials anywhere in ht?llocf?n- of lunar bases and settlt?ments;and finally tric space; ant the utiliz,!tionof extraterrestrial r@- sources--as may be found on the Moon and the 3) the developmeflto: Permanent human Earth-aupro~chtnqApoollo/Amor astproids. habitats fn space. The Space Sh)ttlp represents the Unit@d Th? manned tnd unmaoned space missions of the States’ commitment to the first steo in thi$ ;uture will riemdnd ‘!irstkilowatt, then meqa- extrflterrestrlalRxpanslon process, sfnce watt, and !?v?ntliallyevt=nqiqawatt levels of operational So~ce Shuttle supoorts routlnp power. Enerqv, esp@clally nuclear enercJY, manned access to near-~arth SPRCP. TOIS will hIIIImost critical technical factor {n technical steo will he followed tsvthe cre#- th? developm,?ntof man’s extraterrestrial tton of p~rmanently manned space habitats.- clvili7atlon, first 10 low-Ea?th-orb{t(LEO) and thf?nin other advantageous reqfons cf cislunar Thts poper exmines leading space nucl~ar space, such al qmynchronous orbit, Al- power tcchnoloqv candidate:. Particular thouqh the early $D?c6!Stations in 10w- mphfl$is iS q{vrn the rneat.pipereactor tech- Earth-orbit would mo$t lfkelv d?pend nn nnlnqy currently under developmmt at th~ solar arrn.ysfor th?ir initial rzowersuP- Lot Alamos National Laboratory. This Rro- plies, nucle~r rrmtor~ could eventually h? qram i5 nlm~d at developing a 10-100 klh, incorporated ns such stations arow in si7P T-y?ar lifetime spdce nuclear pow~r plant. m-! cnmDltx\ty--as i’nr?x#mDle, tc sfitlsfv A$ the d~mand f’r spmo-bsscd powor reach~s incrcaspd Dow?r d~mfindsfor mht?rit,ls P~oc- m~qfiwattlev?l$, other nuclear t-e.sctor pss{ng, LfirqnsPace Dlatforms at af,n$vn- (iI~siqI,$inclljdinq: solid COW?, fluidi?rd cllronou$-Earth-csrhit(G[.0)could also bnti,eIIrl IJsfQouscore, ar~ considpled. offwltiv@lv us~ ouCl@l~rr?~ctors, In thi$ application, th~ rr!act?r$wollldnot onlv support thp inltl~l movwn~nt of mAqflvP pint. IN1N[IWI;I1ON.,..—- form~ from I.EOto IWO tilrouqhthe use of nljcl~arplpctric prnpulston svst~m< (NEFS)~ hlt wt~tlldal~o sQ*vP as t}}t,piatfnrm’s tzrim~ pnwor %nuf’ce oncp f)l)Pralir)nfil altituri~ 1< 1 achieved. ThuS, in the 1990s and beyond, citing new era of space exploitation. Ovar advanced-designnuclear reactors could rep- the next few decades, humanity will t?xDerl- resent a major energy source for br,thspace ence a subtle tr?chno-socialtransformation power and propulsion syltems. Some of the in which the phvsical conditions (e.q., hiqh sophisticated space missions of tomorrow vacuum, weightlessness), resoul-c~s(e.q., will require first kilnwatt and then mega- lunar a~d asteroid), and properties of outer watt levels of Power. This paper explores sPace (e.q., view of the Earth, biological man’s extraterrestrial civilization, and the isolation from Earth) are effectively used role energy, particularly nuclear, can Play to better the quality of life f,)rall on in the development of that civilization. Earth. This process has heen called the “humanizationof space.’’’l,5ttspart of this Drocess, man (only a selected few at THF w,JMANIZATIONOF SPACE first) will also learn to live in soaceo Human proqress is bused upon challpnge and The humanfzatiun of soace is a comp’ex df!- corltinuedtechnical growth. As mankind velopment, which identifies the start of the enters the next millennium, expansion of the second phase of the Earth’s Planeta?v human resource base into space provides the civilization--expansionof the human pathway for continued material development. resource base into the Solar Svstem.lF6 In fact, the overall development of civili- The first phase of Dlanetary civilization zation in the future dePends on an over- tjeqanwith the Orlqlns of intell{a~nt life expanding outlook--an “open world” philos- on Earth and will culminate wit!)the full oPh.v.~S2*3 Its counterpart, a “ClOsed- use of the terrestrial resourc? base. The world” philosophy for human civil~zation, third, and perhaDs ultimate, ohase of Dlane- leads eventually to evolutionary stagna- tary civilization involve inlaratlon to th~ tion. As demonstrated by the law of natural stars. Figure 1 displays some of the ooten- selection, once a llfe form has become fully tial technical steDs that miqht occur durina adapted, It achieves an Intimate balance the second phase of the Earth’s cla\letar\’ with its environment. No further evolu- civilization.T,8 In this pro.iected tionary chanqes occur, unless the nature and sequence of technical achievements, mnn Chiiractprlsticsof the environment itself first learns how to Ile-manPntlvOCCUDV noar- change. Exploitation of space, the ultimate Earth sPace and tht?nex~ands throughout cls- frontier, however, provides mankind with an lunar space. As snace-baserlicdu$triali’o- infinite environment in whtch to continue to tion orows, a subtle out very significant develop and grow. transition point is reacheo, Man eventtiallv becomes fully self-sufficient in Cislunar Human civilization, forqed and molded in the space--that is, those human beinas livinu in crucible of challenqe and adverstty, must sPace habitats will no lonaer deDend on thp have new frontiers, both PhysiCal nnd Psy- Earth for the materials neces$~ry for their chological, In order to flourtsh.113 For survival. Th!ls,from that timr forward, without sufficient sttmul{, individuals as humanity will have two distinct cultural well as entire societies would eventually subs~ts: terran and nonterran or “pxtra- degenerate and experience an ever-decreasing terrestrial.” quality of life. Physical frontiers crovide the living spaces and new materials with rhe finai slaqc of this Lshas@of Dianetarv which to continue human progress. Psy- civilization will be hiqbliahted bv th? chological frontters SUPPIY the challenaet p?lmanen~occupancy of heliocentric or int@r- variety, adventure, and outlet for creative plane?ary space, Human settl?m?nts will aD- enerqies that make intelligent l~fe inter- pear 01 Mars, in the astcruid belt, and on esting. Unfortunately, this aoe is the selected moons of the cliantout@r DlanPts, first period in human history in which there FinalIv, as hurmnity--or at least i.% erntrx- are no new land or sea front!ers to he ex- tprrest,rial$u,>spt--st~rt$tfifill th~ I?co- plored and conquered on Earth. Only the ,Phere nf our native star with manmade space frontier with fts infinite potential “pl~n?,cids’’--ecosmic ‘mtierlust will also antiextent can provide the challenq@ and op- bP in nttract{na s?l?cted citi??ns of th? portunity necessary for continued, construc- So!ar System to the stars, With tho first tive development of the human race.