sci.energy

On Oct 7, 6:00 am, fruitella wrote:
> ISRO looks at n-power to take it deep into universe
>
> As India's space programme gets into its second phase, the Indian
> Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is looking to harness nuclear
> energy to propel its future rockets which will explore distant planets
> and areas beyond the solar system.
>
> While the Chandrayan-1 mission to moon, and the likely mission to
> Mars, can be done by using conventional fuel, ISRO is realising that
> going beyond that would require developing nuclear technology to
> propel the rockets.
>
> Though such an endeavour in outer space is not going to happen in the
> near future, ISRO wants to start early and be ready with the
> technology in time.
>
> "It would not be required before, say 2030 or even beyond that. But
> yes, ultimately we have to be looking at that," ISRO chairman G
> Madhavan Nair told The Indian Express.
>
> The technology to propel these rockets would not be very different to
> what is used in nuclear power plants but the big challenge would be to
> package this into a small unit and make it completely safe.
>
> Nuclear energy is being seen as the most viable options when
> undertaking exploration of very distant space and areas outside the
> solar system because of its ability to pack in a huge amount of energy
> into small volumes. As the spacecraft goes further and further away
> from the sun, the option of using solar energy is also not available.
>
> ISRO recently announced its intention to send a manned mission to
> space and has also been talking about the possibility of a Mars
> explorer in the next decade.

will this nuclear propulsion be in the form of nuclear explosions or
electrically accelerated gas particles?