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Enabling a New Generation of Outer Solar System Missions Enabling a New Generation of Outer Solar System Missions: Engineering Design Studies for Nuclear Electric Propulsion A White Paper in Response to the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023–2032 Call John R. Casani Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology [email protected], 747.222.5055 June 4, 2020 Available online at http://hdl.handle.net/2014/47277 Co-Authors Co-signers (continued) Co-signers (continued) Marc A. Gibson, GRC John F. Cooper, NASA GSFC Richard A. Mewaldt, Caltech David I. Poston, LANL Athena Coustenis, Paris Obs. Eberhard Möbius, UNH Nathan J. Strange, JPL James H. Crocker, LMSS (ret.) Merav Opher, Boston U John O. Elliott, JPL Alan Cummings, Caltech Nickolai V. Pogorelov, UAH Ralph L. McNutt, Jr., APL John Dankanich, NASA MSFC Louise Prockter, LPI Steven L. McCarty, GRC Gina A. DiBraccio, NASA GSFC Kim R. Reh, JPL Patrick R. McClure, LANL Robert W. Ebert, SwRI Kirby Runyon, APL Steven R. Oleson, GRC Jared R. Espley, NASA GSFC Abigail M. Rymer, APL Christophe J. Sotin, JPL Vladimir Florinski, UAH Michael G. Ryschkewitsch, Priscilla C. Frisch, U Chicago APL Co-signers Joe Giacalone, U Arizona Kunio M. Sayanagi, Leon Alkalai, JPL Will Grundy, Lowell HamptonU Fran Bagenal, LASP-CU Mike Gruntman, USC Nathan A. Schwadron, UNH Steven Battel, Battel Tristan Guillot, OCA Amy A. Simon, NASA GSFC Engineering Donald A. Gurnett, U Iowa Ralf Srama, Institute of Space Chloe Beddingfield, SETI and Heidi B. Hammel, AURA Systems, U Stuttgart NASA Ames Candice J. Hansen, PSI Alan Stern, SwRI Richard P. Binzel, MIT Jacob Heerikhuisen, Waikato U David J. Stevenson, Caltech Scott J. Bolton, SwRI George C. Ho, APL Edward C. Stone, Caltech James L. Burch, SwRI William B. Hubbard, U Arizona Mark Sykes, PSI Maciej Bzowski, Space Les Johnson, NASA MSFC Hunter Waite Jr., SwRI Research Centre PAS (CBK Stamatios M. Krimigis, APL Robert Wimmer- PAN) Rosine Lallement, Paris Obs. Schweingruber, CAU, Kiel, Richard Cartwright, SETI Louis J. Lanzerotti, NJIT Germany Eric R. Christian, NASA GSFC Erin Leonard, JPL Peter Wurz, U Berne George Clark, APL Lee Mason, NASA STMD Gary P. Zank, UAH Ian J. Cohen, APL Alfred McEwen, U Arizona Acknowledgments. The work presented in this white paper was a collaborative effort carried out at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Glenn Research Center, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, and was sponsored by Department of Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The information presented about the Nuclear Fission Power system and related mission concepts is pre-decisional and is provided for planning and discussion purposes only. © 2020. All Rights Reserved. CL#20‐2360 Casani et al. Draft White Paper Enabling a New Generation of Outer Solar System Missions: June 4, 2020 Engineering Design Studies for Nuclear Electric Propulsion Abstract. We discuss a nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) capability that would (1) enable a class of outer solar system missions that cannot be done with radioisotope power systems and (2) significantly enhance a range of other deep-space mission concepts. NASA plans to develop Kilopower technology for lunar surface power. Kilopower can also serve as a power source for a 10-kWe NEP system; therefore, we highlight 10-kWe NEP benefits to encourage the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) to advocate (as a potential beneficiary) for NASA’s plan to develop Kilopower, and to motivate further 10-kWe NEP–related concept studies. Background and Assertion. In 2010, the Decadal Survey Giant Planets Panel requested a study to consider the possibility of a small fission power system to support future unspecified NASA science missions. A study team from Department of Energy (DOE) and NASA—including Glenn Research Center (GRC), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and Idaho National Laboratory (INL)—selected a simple concept to provide for 10 kWe of power, a 15-year lifetime, and potential launch capability in 2020 [Mason et al., 2010, 2011]. That initial concept led to a development and test program for the concept, beginning with the Demonstration Using Flattop Fission (DUFF) test in 2012 [Poston and McClure, 2013]. In 2015, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) teamed with DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to further develop Kilopower as a new and simple 1- to 10-kWe space reactor concept [Gibson et al., 2017]. A 10-kWe power source used with electric propulsion could enable a class of outer solar system missions and significantly enhance a range of other deep-space mission concepts1. The capability could increase science payload mass, reduce flight time, increase mission lifetime2, and provide ample power for science instruments and/or increased data rates. Such an advance would provide a breakthrough in science value beyond Cassini-class missions [National Research Council, 2006], enabling NASA to continue to pursue large strategic missions to the outer solar system [National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017]. Building on the hypothesis that a 10-kWe NEP system enables missions that are not practical with radioisotope power systems3,4, a joint study team from NASA and DOE research centers identified generic and specific benefits of using 10-kWe NEP for outer solar system exploration. The use of fission power systems has been identified as a key factor in achieving a sustainable 1 Kilopower is a far simpler and less powerful (10 kWe versus 200 kWe) power system than envisioned for use under NASA’s Prometheus effort [Wollman and Zika, 2006], which would nonetheless have extended robotic space power capabilities beyond the ~1 kWe practical upper limit of radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) systems (cf. e.g., Allen et al. [1995], Hula [2015]). 2 Mission lifetime is primarily determined by the allowable radiation dose to sensitive components and primarily affects the design of the nuclear power system in two ways: the lifetime of the core itself, and shield mass and boom length required to limit integrated dose to radiation-sensitive components. The study team chose a 15-year mission lifetime as a reasonable balance among science instrument mass, boom length, and radiation hardness for parts. [NEP Study Team, 2020] 3 RTGs producing more than 1 kWe are not practical because (1) there is no pragmatic way to get rid of the waste heat and (2) they have a practical mission lifetime of ~15–20 years with normal margins because of the combined alpha decay of the heat source along with the thermal degradation of the thermoelectric converters. Both Voyager RTGs have worked flawlessly for over 43 years, but produce less than half the power required for full mission operation, which is the rated power for end-of-mission. This is a testimony to their inherent reliability and an indication of practical mission lifetime of ~15 years. 4 Several studies have been done in preparation for a mission to Uranus and/or Neptune [e.g., Atreya, 2008; Atreya and In, 2016] using conventional means. For example, the Ice Giants Science Definition Team (SDT) presented a number of mission architectures, science payloads, and launch and power scenarios for a Flagship-class mission [Hofstadter et al., 2017; Hofstadter et al., 2019]. © 2020. All Rights Reserved. 1 Casani et al. Draft White Paper Enabling a New Generation of Outer Solar System Missions: June 4, 2020 Engineering Design Studies for Nuclear Electric Propulsion presence on the moon and Mars, and NASA's intent is to demonstrate the system in an operational mission as early as 2027 [NASA 2020]. If NASA follows through with its plan, then all the technology needed for 10-kWe NEP will have been flight-proven, the propulsion technology having been demonstrated already with the Deep Space–1 and Dawn missions in the United States, and SMART (Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology)‑1 and on- going BepiColombo missions for the European Space Agency (ESA). Straightforward engineering adaptations (but no new technology development) will be needed to integrate the surface reactor power module with the rest of the 10-kWe NEP spacecraft, as multiple engineering studies of such systems have been undertaken previously, e.g., as identified in Taylor (Prometheus) [2005], Cameron and Herbert (Nuclear Electric Space Test Program, NEPSTP) [1993], Deininger and Vondra [1991], and Pawlik and Phillips [1977]. Purpose. The primary purpose of this white paper is to highlight 10-kWe NEP benefits for outer solar system missions in order to inform the 2020 Decadal committee of important opportunities for space science and to motivate further 10-kWe NEP–related concept studies. Context for Initiating a 10‐kWe NEP Benefits Study. The Giant Planets Panel study results [Mason et al., 2010, 2011] were impressive, but the Decadal committee consensus was that reactor power was not yet ready for use in space. Meanwhile, SMD, having concluded that the best path forward would be to focus on 238Pu-fueled radioisotope systems, decided not to pursue NEP. The SMD Nuclear Power Assessment Study (NPAS) [APL, 2015] concluded that fission power was not an essential need for planetary science missions currently under consideration, but that SMD should consider using it if other mission directorates funded the development. Based on the NPAS and Mason studies, STMD agreed to fund design, construction, and test a small prototype reactor led by GRC in collaboration with NNSA and including LANL, Y-12 National Security Complex, and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). STMD gave the name Kilopower to the reactor; LANL named the test program KRUSTY (Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology). Together they demonstrated the nuclear performance capability using a 1-kWe version of Kilopower [Gibson et al., 2018; Poston et al., 2019]. KRUSTY eliminated much, if not most, of the potential risk5 associated with nuclear development and operation [NEP Study Team, 2020], and paved the way for development of a 10-kWe fission power generator that could be used for human surface missions on the Moon and Mars.
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