NERVA
Sign in to saveAlso known as Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application
The Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA; ) was a nuclear thermal rocket engine development program that ran for roughly two decades. Its principal objective was to "establish a technology base for nuclear rocket engine systems to be utilized in the design and development of propulsion systems for space mission application". It was a joint effort of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and was managed by the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office (SNPO) until the program ended in January 1973. SNPO was led by NASA's Harold Fi
Key facts
- Rocket engine.image
- File:NTS - ETS-1 002.jpg
- Rocket engine.caption
- NERVA XE in ETS-1
- Rocket engine.name
- NERVA
- Rocket engine.country_of_origin
- United States
- Rocket engine.purpose
- Upper stage engine
- Rocket engine.designer
- Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
- Rocket engine.status
- Retired
- Rocket engine.type
- Liquid
- Rocket engine.fuel
- Liquid hydrogen
- Rocket engine.cycle
- Turbine drive
- Rocket engine.burn_time
- 1,680 seconds
- Rocket engine.restarts
- 24
- Rocket engine.notes
- Figures for XE Prime
- Nuclear reactor.embed
- yes
- Nuclear reactor.headerstyle
- background-color:#FFDEAD
- Nuclear reactor.operation
- 1968 to 1969
- Nuclear reactor.status
- Decommissioned
- Nuclear reactor.fuel
- Highly enriched uranium
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
Show 3 more facts
- short name
- NERVA
- native label
- Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application
- Commons category
- NERVA rocket
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~52 min read
Article
21 sectionsContents
- Origins
- Project Rover
- Underlying concepts
- Design concepts
- Test site
- Organization
- Transfer to NASA
- Space Nuclear Propulsion Office
- Towards Reactor In-Flight Tests
- Engine development
- Kiwi
- NERVA NRX
- NERVA XE
- Reactor and engine test summary
- Cancellation
- Post-NERVA research
- See also
- Footnotes
- Notes
- References
- External links
The Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA; ) was a nuclear thermal rocket engine development program that ran for roughly two decades. Its principal objective was to "establish a technology base for nuclear rocket engine systems to be utilized in the design and development of propulsion systems for space mission application". It was a joint effort of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and was managed by the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office (SNPO) until the program ended in January 1973. SNPO was led by NASA's Harold Finger and AEC's Milton Klein.
NERVA had its origins in Project Rover, an AEC research project at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) with the initial aim of providing a nuclear-powered upper stage for the United States Air Force intercontinental ballistic missiles. Nuclear thermal rocket engines promised to be more efficient than chemical ones. After the formation of NASA in 1958, Project Rover was continued as a civilian project and was reoriented to producing a nuclear powered upper stage for NASA's Saturn V Moon rocket. Reactors were tested at very low power before being shipped to Jackass Flats in the Nevada Test Site. While LASL concentrated on reactor development, NASA built and tested complete rocket engines.