Project Rover
Encyclopedia
Project Rover was an American project to develop a nuclear thermal rocket
. The program ran at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory from 1955 through 1972 and involved the Atomic Energy Commission
, and NASA
. The project was managed by the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office
.
Nuclear reactors for the Rover program were built at the Lab's Technical Area 18 (TA-18), also known as Pajarito Site. The reactors were tested at very low power and subsequently shipped to Jackass Flats at the Nevada Test Site
. Testing of fuel elements and other materials science was done by N-Division in Los Alamos at TA-46 using various ovens and later the Nuclear Furnace. Parallel fuel rod development took place off-site at Rocky Flats.
Project Rover could be divided into three phases: Kiwi, between 1955 and 1964, Phoebus, taking place between 1964 and 1969, and Pewee, taking place between 1969 and the project's cancellation along with the cancellation of the NERVA
rocket at the end of 1972. Kiwi and Phoebus were large reactors; Pewee 1 and Pewee 2 were much smaller and they conformed to the smaller budget available after 1968. Both Kiwi and Phoebus became part of the NERVA program.
published a paper discussing the use of a nuclear-powered heat exchanger to heat hydrogen or methane, concluding that nuclear power was sufficiently promising to deserve some investigation.
Two years later, in July of 1946, a short paper was published by R. Serber of Project Rand surveying possible methods for obtaining thrust for a nuclear-powered rocket, including emission of fission fragments, beta and alpha particle momentum and mechanical heating. Serber concluded that using a reactor to heat particles of low mass was probably the most practical approach, although the problems of heat transfer and high temperatures would have to be solved.
The following year, in January 1947, a group of researchers at Johns Hopkins University
published a much more complete survey of methods for the development of nuclear aircraft and rockets. They concluded that graphite and carbide would be good materials for this purpose because of their high melting points and compatibility with nuclear reactors.
Also in 1947, North American Aviation's Aerophysics Laboratory published a large paper surveying many of the problems involved in using nuclear reactors to power airplanes and rockets. The study was specifically aimed at a vehicle with a range of 10,000 miles and a payload of 8,000 pounds, and covered turbopumps, structure, tankage, aerodynamics and reactor structural design for that specific mission. They concluded that hydrogen was best as a propellant, and graphite would be the best reactor material, but they assumed an operating temperature of 5700 degrees F, at that time a temperature somewhat beyond the capabilities of available materials. North American's researchers had no knowledge of the Manhattan District project or data and were not a part of the Nuclear Energy for Propulsion of Aircraft (NEPA) program being funded by the Air Force at Oak Ridge. Their work used very conservative numbers and emerged with very unpromising results for the idea of nuclear-powered rockets.
NEPA had been formed in 1946 and continued through the spring of 1951 under Fairchild's guidance. It studied nuclear rockets for about three years, from 1946 to 1949 and did the same for nuclear aircraft until the program ended.
An important series of articles in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society
entitled "The Atomic Rocket" was published in 1948 and 1949 by L.R. Shepherd and A.V. Cleaver. Beyond being a fairly complete survey of issues, methods and materials, this series was unclassified, finally making the topic available to the general public. The conclusion of the series was that nuclear power would be coming to the field of rocketry.
In 1952, Robert Bussard joined the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion program. Bussard commented that it was the first time he had ever witnessed a program that was three years behind the press clippings. General morale was low; the missile and rocket people understood and preferred chemicals, and the reactor people had no regard for the idea of flight. Bussard decided to write another survey, one with rigor as a major goal. He used data and analyses from existing chemical rockets, along with specifications for existing components. All calculations were based on what was known concerning nuclear reactors at that time. C.B. Mills, a well-known reactor physicist, lent credibility to the paper, as did A.B. Longyear of Aerojet General Corporation. Most importantly, Bussard's paper did not limit itself to a specific payload or range, but rather surveyed several ranges and payload sizes. Bussard, Mills and Longyear concluded on a weight basis, nuclear rockets would be superior to chemical rockets for all but the smallest payloads, and that the margin of superiority increased as payloads and ranges increased. It also pointed out that the problem of corrosion by hot hydrogen on graphite would have to be solved, and discussed the use of protection by metallic carbides. The study was published in the classified Journal of Reactor Science and Technology in December 1953.
Eugene Wigner and Jon von Neumann at Princeton University read the paper and expressed interest to the U.S. Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission
Reactors Branch. The Air Force asked the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL), the Oak Ridge National Laboratory
and the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory to review the field and report their conclusions to the Nuclear Missiles Subcommittee of the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board at its first meeting in Washington, D.C. in October 1954. The Condor Committee was formed at Los Alamos to consider possibilities for nuclear rocket propulsion. The group included Tom Gittings, Don McMillan, Phil Hammond, Phil Bendt, Lee Aamodt, George Bell, Jim Tuck and Conrad Longmire
under the direction of Darol Froman, the directory of LASL's K-Division (power reactors). At the October meeting in Washington, a decision was made to study the problem for another six months.
In February 1955, Tom Gittings proposed to Bussard that they investigate the possibility of boosting the nuclear ICBM to high altitude using atmospheric air. The idea was modified later to use a first stage booster such as the Navajo missile. It reduced the rocket mass by a factor of five.
The results were sufficiently promising that Lab Director Norris Bradbury
formed a new Nuclear Propulsion Division to carry out research and development on materials and new reactor design work, with Raemer Schreiber at its head. Herbert York
established a similar division at Livermore. In June 1955, Bussard moved to Los Alamos and joined the Nuclear Propulsion Division. Project Rover had begun.
Kiwi was considered successful proof that nuclear rockets could be considered not only feasible but highly reliable and advantageous for space travel.
Phoebus A-1 was tested on July 25, 1965, at Jackass Flats. A second test occurred three years later. Both tests were considered highly successful.
Nuclear thermal rocket
In a nuclear thermal rocket a working fluid, usually liquid hydrogen, is heated to a high temperature in a nuclear reactor, and then expands through a rocket nozzle to create thrust. In this kind of thermal rocket, the nuclear reactor's energy replaces the chemical energy of the propellant's...
. The program ran at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory from 1955 through 1972 and involved the Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
, and NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
. The project was managed by the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office
Space Nuclear Propulsion Office
The United States Space Nuclear Propulsion Office was created in 1961 in response to NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's desire to explore the use of nuclear thermal rockets created by Project Rover in NASA space exploration activities...
.
Nuclear reactors for the Rover program were built at the Lab's Technical Area 18 (TA-18), also known as Pajarito Site. The reactors were tested at very low power and subsequently shipped to Jackass Flats at the Nevada Test Site
Nevada Test Site
The Nevada National Security Site , previously the Nevada Test Site , is a United States Department of Energy reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about northwest of the city of Las Vegas...
. Testing of fuel elements and other materials science was done by N-Division in Los Alamos at TA-46 using various ovens and later the Nuclear Furnace. Parallel fuel rod development took place off-site at Rocky Flats.
Project Rover could be divided into three phases: Kiwi, between 1955 and 1964, Phoebus, taking place between 1964 and 1969, and Pewee, taking place between 1969 and the project's cancellation along with the cancellation of the NERVA
NERVA
NERVA is an acronym for Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application, a joint program of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and NASA managed by the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office until both the program and the office ended at the end of 1972....
rocket at the end of 1972. Kiwi and Phoebus were large reactors; Pewee 1 and Pewee 2 were much smaller and they conformed to the smaller budget available after 1968. Both Kiwi and Phoebus became part of the NERVA program.
Beginnings
In the later days of the Manhattan District Project in 1944, Stan Ulam and F. de Hoffman published speculative ideas regarding alternate applications of nuclear energy. These ideas included the possible use of bombs to push missiles. At about the same time, T.F. Dixon and H.P. Yockey at North American AviationNorth American Aviation
North American Aviation was a major US aerospace manufacturer, responsible for a number of historic aircraft, including the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F-86 Sabre jet fighter, the X-15 rocket plane, and the XB-70, as well as Apollo Command and Service...
published a paper discussing the use of a nuclear-powered heat exchanger to heat hydrogen or methane, concluding that nuclear power was sufficiently promising to deserve some investigation.
Two years later, in July of 1946, a short paper was published by R. Serber of Project Rand surveying possible methods for obtaining thrust for a nuclear-powered rocket, including emission of fission fragments, beta and alpha particle momentum and mechanical heating. Serber concluded that using a reactor to heat particles of low mass was probably the most practical approach, although the problems of heat transfer and high temperatures would have to be solved.
The following year, in January 1947, a group of researchers at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
published a much more complete survey of methods for the development of nuclear aircraft and rockets. They concluded that graphite and carbide would be good materials for this purpose because of their high melting points and compatibility with nuclear reactors.
Also in 1947, North American Aviation's Aerophysics Laboratory published a large paper surveying many of the problems involved in using nuclear reactors to power airplanes and rockets. The study was specifically aimed at a vehicle with a range of 10,000 miles and a payload of 8,000 pounds, and covered turbopumps, structure, tankage, aerodynamics and reactor structural design for that specific mission. They concluded that hydrogen was best as a propellant, and graphite would be the best reactor material, but they assumed an operating temperature of 5700 degrees F, at that time a temperature somewhat beyond the capabilities of available materials. North American's researchers had no knowledge of the Manhattan District project or data and were not a part of the Nuclear Energy for Propulsion of Aircraft (NEPA) program being funded by the Air Force at Oak Ridge. Their work used very conservative numbers and emerged with very unpromising results for the idea of nuclear-powered rockets.
NEPA had been formed in 1946 and continued through the spring of 1951 under Fairchild's guidance. It studied nuclear rockets for about three years, from 1946 to 1949 and did the same for nuclear aircraft until the program ended.
An important series of articles in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society
Journal of the British Interplanetary Society
The Journal of the British Interplanetary Society is a technical scientific journal, first published in 1934. JBIS is concerned with space science and space technology...
entitled "The Atomic Rocket" was published in 1948 and 1949 by L.R. Shepherd and A.V. Cleaver. Beyond being a fairly complete survey of issues, methods and materials, this series was unclassified, finally making the topic available to the general public. The conclusion of the series was that nuclear power would be coming to the field of rocketry.
In 1952, Robert Bussard joined the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion program. Bussard commented that it was the first time he had ever witnessed a program that was three years behind the press clippings. General morale was low; the missile and rocket people understood and preferred chemicals, and the reactor people had no regard for the idea of flight. Bussard decided to write another survey, one with rigor as a major goal. He used data and analyses from existing chemical rockets, along with specifications for existing components. All calculations were based on what was known concerning nuclear reactors at that time. C.B. Mills, a well-known reactor physicist, lent credibility to the paper, as did A.B. Longyear of Aerojet General Corporation. Most importantly, Bussard's paper did not limit itself to a specific payload or range, but rather surveyed several ranges and payload sizes. Bussard, Mills and Longyear concluded on a weight basis, nuclear rockets would be superior to chemical rockets for all but the smallest payloads, and that the margin of superiority increased as payloads and ranges increased. It also pointed out that the problem of corrosion by hot hydrogen on graphite would have to be solved, and discussed the use of protection by metallic carbides. The study was published in the classified Journal of Reactor Science and Technology in December 1953.
Eugene Wigner and Jon von Neumann at Princeton University read the paper and expressed interest to the U.S. Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission
Atomic Energy Commission
Many countries have or have had an Atomic Energy Commission. These include:* Australian Atomic Energy Commission * Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission * Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique...
Reactors Branch. The Air Force asked the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL), the Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a multiprogram science and technology national laboratory managed for the United States Department of Energy by UT-Battelle. ORNL is the DOE's largest science and energy laboratory. ORNL is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near Knoxville...
and the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory to review the field and report their conclusions to the Nuclear Missiles Subcommittee of the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board at its first meeting in Washington, D.C. in October 1954. The Condor Committee was formed at Los Alamos to consider possibilities for nuclear rocket propulsion. The group included Tom Gittings, Don McMillan, Phil Hammond, Phil Bendt, Lee Aamodt, George Bell, Jim Tuck and Conrad Longmire
Conrad Longmire
Conrad Lee Longmire was an American theoretical physicist who was best known as the discoverer of the mechanism behind high-altitude electromagnetic pulse....
under the direction of Darol Froman, the directory of LASL's K-Division (power reactors). At the October meeting in Washington, a decision was made to study the problem for another six months.
In February 1955, Tom Gittings proposed to Bussard that they investigate the possibility of boosting the nuclear ICBM to high altitude using atmospheric air. The idea was modified later to use a first stage booster such as the Navajo missile. It reduced the rocket mass by a factor of five.
The results were sufficiently promising that Lab Director Norris Bradbury
Norris Bradbury
Norris Edwin Bradbury , was an American physicist who was born in Santa Barbara, California. He served as director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory for 25 years , succeeding J. Robert Oppenheimer, who personally chose Bradbury for the position of director after working closely with him on the...
formed a new Nuclear Propulsion Division to carry out research and development on materials and new reactor design work, with Raemer Schreiber at its head. Herbert York
Herbert York
Herbert Frank York was an American nuclear physicist. He held numerous research and administrative positions at various United States government and educational institutes.-Biography:...
established a similar division at Livermore. In June 1955, Bussard moved to Los Alamos and joined the Nuclear Propulsion Division. Project Rover had begun.
Kiwi
The first phase of Project Rover, Kiwi, was named after the large flightless bird. It consisted of a series of non-flyable test nuclear engines, with primary focus on improving the technology of hydrogen-cooled reactors. Between 1959 and 1964, a total of eight reactors were built and tested. After conclusion of these experiments in 1964, further efforts were concentrated towards larger and more powerful Phoebus reactors.Kiwi was considered successful proof that nuclear rockets could be considered not only feasible but highly reliable and advantageous for space travel.
Phoebus
Phoebus was Phase Two of Project Rover. The focus was placed on achieving more power than was possible with Kiwi units and maintaining the maximum power for ever longer duration. The work on Phoebus was started in 1963, with a total of 3 engines being built and tested between 1965 and 1968.Phoebus A-1 was tested on July 25, 1965, at Jackass Flats. A second test occurred three years later. Both tests were considered highly successful.