What If We Had Nuclear-Powered Rockets?

[Music] by the year 2035 nasa plans to send humans to mars but it would be about a nine month trip with our current rocket technology however in the not so distant future we could be replacing chemical engines with nuclear thermal propulsion that would take you to mars in just three months what are the risks of using nuclear propulsion how would it work and have we ever used nuclear energy in space before this is what if and here's what would happen if we had nuclear powered rockets nuclear propulsion would open up space exploration but there are some serious challenges that we would have to overcome first the nuclear engines would need to be safe and lightweight and that isn't easy to achieve since they'd be operating at a temperature of 2430 degrees and this wouldn't be the first time we would try using nuclear power in space in 1958 project orion was a rocket design that tested a nuclear propulsion system and let me tell you it was bizarre instead of using anything that resembles our current rocket engine project orion used blast waves to propel the spaceship forward yeah you heard me blast waves orion would eject small nuclear bombs behind it one at a time a few seconds later boom the coffee can sized bomb detonated plasma from the explosion would catch up with orion's back then hit a thick shock absorbing plate this would protect the ship from the radiation and move it forward every time a bomb detonated the space vessel would gain speed the idea was that by using this technology you could increase velocity so much that you could reach any point in the solar system in one year but the idea of casually detonating nuclear bombs in space didn't sit well with a public that already feared nuclear power so project orion was terminated fast forward to today and we have a new opportunity to use nuclear power in space but not by using bombs which i'm pretty thankful for i don't know about you but the idea of bombs exploding in space doesn't sound like a good long-term plan to me the only bombs i like are these ones yeah i know they need a little work but that's why i joined fitbot fitbot has made it so much easier to find the right exercises pace and intensity for your workout and that gives you better results because it builds a fitness program that constantly adapts to you rocket ships aren't the only things that need momentum so if you're looking for some extra incentive join fitbot today use our special coupon code and get 25 off your membership you know i'm always trying to understand crazy new technology and mind exploding science and when i work out i don't want to have to think too hard so i love how easy this app's instructions are it makes my workouts fun gives my brain a break and i know that i'm training safely because fitbot makes sure that i don't overwork any of my muscles and you know i'm a video guy so i appreciate that fitbot has hd videos that make learning new exercises a breeze personalized training can be tough on anyone's budget but fitbot is only 9.99 a month or even better 59.99 a year and if you sign up now you'll get 25 percent off your membership build the momentum to carry your fitness journey through the rest of the year with fitbit get twenty five percent off a membership when you sign up now at fitbot.me what if that's 25 off your membership at fitbot.me what if instead of using bombs to get to mars we'd use a nuclear thermal propulsion system with a reactor core this reactor core would be eight times hotter than nuclear power plant cores it would heat fuel in this case liquid hydrogen to 2430 degrees turning it into a gas and creating thrust right now the nuclear thermal propulsion system would use fission to heat the reactor core fission splits a larger atom usually uranium into at least two smaller atoms but in the future when we've got the right technology we could use fusion instead fusion is the opposite of fission it would join at least two smaller atoms into a bigger one releasing up to four times more energy than fission that would be one energetic rocket wow that's very impressive and a quicker space trip wouldn't just be convenient it would also be safer for the crew astronauts are exposed to cosmic radiation when they're in space which can cause serious long-term health issues radiation shielding could help but it's extremely heavy and the longer the mission the more shielding you'd need so by reducing your time spent in space you'd limit the crew's health risks and the mission would cost less and we'd use these rockets for more than transportation once a rocket has reached its destination the nuclear reactor could switch from a propulsion system to a power source so what are the drawbacks to nuclear thermal propulsion well you could only use this system when the vessel is in space it would still need chemical thrusters to leave earth there could be a lot of radiation effects so the farther away from earth's atmosphere it is before the ntp systems switch on the better and the word nuclear sets off a lot of alarm bells we'd be dealing with explosive radioactive material after all but the nuclear propulsion system would be designed so that even if there were a launch failure only a minimum amount of uranium would disperse reducing any radioactive spills scientists have studied this type of engine since the late 1950s but it hasn't flown in space yet regulations and lack of funding have slowed its development but in 2019 nasa received 100 million dollars to develop nuclear thermal propulsion making their 2035 plan of sending humans to mars much more achievable nuclear energy could be the future of space exploration now what if we used it on earth as our only fuel source well that's a story for another what if [Music] you

Channel: What If

Views: 267,987

Rating: 4.8982887 out of 5

Keywords: what if, what happens if, scifi, science documentary, what if scenario, mysteries, what if technology, hypothetical, documentary, NASA, aerospace engineering, aerospace, mars, space travel, nasa mars, trip, rocket, rocket science, propulsion, chemical engineering, nuclear propulsion, nuclear thermal propulsion, nuclear thermal rocket, nuclear energy, space, cosmos, risk, nuclear, nuclear power, project orion, rocket engine, radiation, solar system, opportunity, technology, uranium, fusion, NTP

Id: oo50stwmgQ8

Length: 8min 17sec (497 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 02 2021