arda-guler / nuclearphotonicrocket Goto Github PK

Studying concept designs for nuclear photonic rockets, a possible future space propulsion method.

I came up with this idea on my own one day, and named the concept "Blackbody (Emission/Radiation) Rocket/Thruster". (Yes, that makes 6 possible combinations for the name!)
Then later, I discovered that (unsurprisingly) this idea has already been studied and named "Nuclear Photonic Rocket". Meh, not a terrible name either. I can live with it.

Anyway, regardless of previous work on it, I ran some calculations of my own. And just as expected, it has godlike propulsive efficieny and just the opposite thrust magnitude.
By the time anyone gets anywhere with this, a laser sail will probably beat it to its destination. With even higher efficiency for extra charisma points. The only upside I can see
for this application is that it doesn't need previously installed space infrastructure to run, and can just as easily decelerate as it can accelerate.