Use of efficient liquid-metal coolants such as lithium, sodium, or nak in space reactors presently requires a thermally-hot launch to keep the coolant molten until start-up. this requirement severely complicates power plant assembly, testing, and shipping as well as vehicle integration, heating on… More

Deployable space radiators are necessary for space nuclear power systems in the 500 kwe level and above and can offer significant system-weight savings even in the 100 kwe power range. current deployable systems do not provide efficient transfer of heat across a space-deployable mechanical… More

This proposal describes an innovative thermal energy absorption, storage and dissipation concept that enables the development of very compact, maneuverable, closed cycle, multimegawatt space burst power systems. the concept can best be applied to the advanced, high power density, incore thermionic… More

Space power inc. has recently developed a 10 -30 v input dc/dc power conditioner with a 10:1 voltage step-up ratio, which has a power capacity to mass ratio (low specific mass) that is a substantial improvement over the state-of-the-art. additional outstanding features of this design are its ability… More

Although several research efforts are concentrating on development of arcjet thrusters for electric propulsion applications, relatively little work is addressing the power supply electronics required to operate these thrusters. experiments on arcjets typically have used large laboratory power… More

A comparative study of high interaction hypersonic flows in the transition region is proposed. idealized axisymmetric and planar configurations will be investigated over a wide range of freestream conditions from near-continuum to free molecular. our direct simulation monte carlo code will be used… More

The need exists for a highly survivable, low cost, space nuclear electric power supply that will be capable of delivering 6 kwe of steady power for long periods of time with high reliability. any candidate space power supply system must survive severe environmental conditions, including natural… More

An exploratory investigation of the propagation characteristics of laser light in simulated sea ice is proposed. transmission and reflection behavior will be measured so that the potential of a new class of ice thickness and profiling diagnostics can be assessed. due to sea ice inhomogeneities, an… More

A class of potential new efficient tunable short-wavelength high-power-density lasers is being investigated. it is anticipated that it should be possible to tune these lasers from far red to vacuum ultraviolet (vuv) wavelengths and to achieve power densities of 100kj/literor more. this laser concept… More

Performance and lifetimes of thermionic space nuclear power systems are limited by deformation of the chemical vapor deposition-tungsten (cvd-w) emitter. this life-limiting phenomenon is attributable almostentirely to swelling of the nuclear fuel. high strength emitter mate-rials have been… More

There is a national need for efficient means of locating illegal drugs and their manufacturing sites. we propose the use of laser remote sensing. drug manufacturing sites would be located by sensing their associated chemical reagents. this could likely be done with a laser beam invisible to the eye.… More

An improved insulator material is proposed for use in space nuclear reactors. This material is for the insulator of the trilayer of a thermionic fuel element (TFE). This insulator must withstand rigorous conditions of long life at high temperature under exposure to nuclear radiation. Previous work… More

A Russian designed Stationary Plasma Thruster (SPT) has demonstrated 1600 second specific impulse, 50% efficiency, 3500 hours and 3000 start/stop cycle of space operation. This performance has recently been confirmed by a US scientific team. The Russian has flown more than 50 of the SPT thrusters.… More

SPI has a unique combination of experience in power electronics that will benefit the development of the PCU for Internetted Unattended Ground Sensors (IUGS). We specialize in the development of highly reliable, efficient, compact systems. We have extensive experience in the development of space-use… More

Space power, inc. will use a solid-state laser to cover the wavelength range from near ir through visible to near uv using a laser-type doped silica sol-gel. materials temperature limitations previously prevented the doping of organic dyes in inorganic solids. the sol-gel technique solves this… More

We propose to use innovative techniques including current mode switching, which is ideal for short-circuit protection; asymmetric regulator, which is ideal for high power switching; and simplified ion thruster PCU design, which is recently proposed~by NASA to develop an ion thruster PCU that is… More

It will be demonstrated in phase i by analysis and experiment that electrodes for thermionic converters having heat pipes incorporated in the electrode structure accommodate high interelectrode heat flux without distortion. these results will enable close-spaced converters with electrode gaps of 5… More

Satellite builders indicate that electric propulsion for stationkeeping and orbit transfer is needed. An unprecedented demand is expected for low power thruster modules, with emphasis placed on low mass, high power density, compactness, power expandability, and reduced cost for system components. … More