Technology

Science and Nature

Atomic Rocket Engines and Fission Power

Principles and Design of Nuclear Electric Propulsion Systems for Spacecraft and Launch VehiclesBy Yuri Petrossian

Listen with Sir Michael Caine™ and 1,000+ voices

Get for $70

Length12h 28m

About this audiobook

Some missions simply cannot be flown on chemical propellant or sunlight. This book explains the alternative without assuming you have ever taken a nuclear course. Nuclear electric propulsion and space fission power are no longer paper concepts—they are the enabling technologies for deep-space cargo, crewed Mars transits, and outer-planet science. But most aerospace engineers graduate without ever sizing a reactor, a radiator, or a shielding mass. This book closes that gap. It begins by quantifying the power and energy a mission actually demands, then builds the reactor physics that matters to a designer: neutron economy, reactivity feedback, and the temperature limits set by fuel form, moderator, and reflector choice. You will see why these material decisions cap core temperature—and therefore specific impulse—long before any engineering detail is drawn. From there, the book moves to hardware. You will size a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) engine with its control drums and turbopump, then a space fission power plant using Stirling, Brayton, or thermoelectric conversion. You will calculate the radiator area that dominates system mass, and you will trade an electric propulsion stage on specific mass and trip time. Shielding geometry, ground testing, and launch approval close the book, giving you the full picture from neutron to nozzle to regulatory gate. What you will learn: • How to quantify mission power and energy requirements before choosing a nuclear system • The reactor physics essentials—neutron economy, reactivity control, and feedback—that drive design • How fuel form, moderator, and reflector choices set core temperature limits and achievable specific impulse • Nuclear thermal propulsion principles and the architecture of an NTP engine, including control drums and turbopumps • Reactor control and dynamics for safe, stable operation in space • Space fission power systems with Stirling, Brayton, and thermoelectric conversion • Heat rejection and the radiator area that dominates power plant mass • Nuclear electric propulsion stage design traded on specific mass and trip time • Shielding geometry, the radiation environment, ground testing, safety, and launch approval Written for aerospace engineers, graduate students, and space systems analysts, this book assumes no prior nuclear coursework. If you design, analyze, or plan spacecraft and launch vehicles—or study to do so—this is your practical introduction to the nuclear option.

Space Travel

Audiobook details

GenreTechnology, Science and Nature

Length12 hrs 28 mins

Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices

FormateBook with Audio

Publish dateSep 27, 2026

LanguageEnglish

1Atomic Rocket Engines and Fission Power

2Foreword

3Preface

4About This Book

5Important Safety Notice

Show all chapters

6Chapter 1: Why Nuclear in Space

71.1 Mission Energy and Power Budgets

81.2 The Capability Ceiling of Chemical Propulsion

91.3 Solar Array Limits and Distance Scaling

101.4 Mission Classes That Require Fission

111.5 Comparing Architectures on a Common Basis

121.6 Energy, Power and the Thermal Balance

13Chapter 2: Reactor Physics Essentials

142.1 Neutrons, Fission and the Chain Reaction

152.2 Cross Sections and Neutron Interactions

162.3 Moderation and the Neutron Spectrum

172.4 Criticality, Multiplication and Geometry

182.5 Reactivity as an Engineering Control Variable

192.6 Burnup, Poisons and Lifetime

20Chapter 3: Fuels, Moderators and Reflectors

213.1 Uranium Fuel Forms and Enrichment

223.2 Ceramic, Carbide and Cermet Fuels

233.3 Moderator Materials and Temperature Limits

243.4 Reflectors and Neutron Economy

253.5 Fuel, Moderator and Reflector Selection Table

26Chapter 4: Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Principles

274.1 Why Hydrogen and Why Temperature

284.2 Core Temperature Limits and Material Coupling

294.3 Achievable Specific Impulse and Thrust

304.4 Bimodal Operation and Power Extraction

314.5 NTP Versus Chemical and Electric Options

32Chapter 5: NTP Engine Architecture

335.1 Core, Reflector and Pressure Vessel Layout

345.2 Control Drums and Reactivity Control Hardware

355.3 Nozzle, Throat and Expansion Design

365.4 Turbopumps and Feed Systems

375.5 Startup, Shutdown and Transients

38Chapter 6: Reactor Control and Dynamics

396.1 Reactivity Feedback and Temperature Coefficients

406.2 Decay Heat and Afterheat Removal

416.3 Transient Response and Stability

426.4 Control Algorithms and Failure Response

436.5 Instrumentation and Monitoring

44Chapter 7: Space Fission Power Systems

457.1 From Reactor Thermal Power to Bus Power

467.2 Stirling Converters

477.3 Brayton Converters

487.4 Thermoelectric and Thermionic Options

497.5 Conversion Selection and Specific Mass Comparison

50Chapter 8: Heat Rejection

More from Technology

The Honey BusMeredith May9h 31m4.4 (16.6K)$25 · $0.00

Collected Writings of Nikola TeslaThomas Commerford Martin, Nikola Tesla19h 42m4.4 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00

Operation PedestalMax Hastings12h 29m4.4 (5.2K)$29 · $0.00

When the Heavens Went on SaleAshlee Vance18h 20m4.4 (3K)$40 · $0.00

Everybody Has a Podcast (Except You)Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy, Griffin McElroy5h 9m4.3 (2.3K)$24 · $0.00

Hands of TimeRebecca Struthers8h 8m4.4 (1.3K)$26 · $0.00

Never Lost AgainBill Kilday10h 1m4.4 (805)$29 · $0.00

How the Internet HappenedBrian McCullough13h 28m4.3 (2.7K)$23 · $0.00

Collected Writings of Nikola TeslaNikola Tesla, Thomas Commerford Martin21h 50m4.3 (1.7K)$1 · $0.00

Just AspireAjai Chowdhry9h 13m4.4 (260)$29 · $0.00

The Little Book of AliensAdam Frank8h 20m4.3 (1.3K)$26 · $0.00

The inventions, researches and writings of Nikola Tesla (Annotated)Thomas Commerford Martin16h 59m4.3 (1.3K)$2 · $0.00

KargilV.P. Malik15h 18m4.3 (2K)$24 · $0.00

Experiments with Alternating CurrentsNikola Tesla9h 16m4.3 (874)$1.99 · $0.00

Fire on the HorizonTom Shroder, John Konrad8h 23m4.3 (858)$26 · $0.00

The Smell of Kerosene (Annotated)National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Donald L. Mallick, Peter W. Merlin11h 32m4.3 (523)$2 · $0.00

The Boy Who Harnessed the WindWilliam Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer10h 5m4.2 (78.9K)$29 · $0.00

Across the Airless WildsEarl Swift10h 8m4.3 (1.3K)$29 · $0.00

Console WarsBlake J. Harris20h 41m4.2 (13.7K)$46 · $0.00

Improvised Munitions HandbookU.S. Department of Defense4h 49m4.3 (1.6K)$1.99 · $0.00

View all

More from Science and Nature

A Brief History of IntelligenceMax S. Bennett12h 18m4.6 (6.6K)$29 · $0.00

The Story of BirdsSteve Brusatte11h 49m4.6 (401)$29 · $0.00

BeyondStephen Walker15h 39m4.6 (3.2K)$33 · $0.00

LiftoffEric Berger9h 4m4.6 (9.5K)$29 · $0.00

Black Earth WisdomLeah Penniman11h 54m4.6 (577)$8 · $0.00

Total Cat MojoJackson Galaxy10h 13m4.5 (8.4K)$23 · $0.00

My Life Among the UnderdogsTia Torres5h 51m4.5 (4K)$24 · $0.00

What It Takes to Save a LifeKwane Stewart6h4.6 (556)$24 · $0.00

Pastoral SongJames Rebanks8h 35m4.5 (12K)$26 · $0.00

How Stella Learned to TalkChristina Hunger7h4.5 (10.9K)$24 · $0.00

Craig & FredCraig Grossi8h 6m4.5 (9.6K)$26 · $0.00

Celebrating BirdsNatalia Rojas, Ana Maria Martinez6h 47m4.6 (330)$24 · $0.00

Saving JemimaJulie Zickefoose4h 59m4.5 (749)$20 · $0.00

Will's Red CoatTom Ryan8h 23m4.5 (2.3K)$26 · $0.00

Of Time and TurtlesSy Montgomery10h 34m4.5 (5K)$29 · $0.00

THE WOLF TRILOGY: Call of the Wild, White Fang & The Son of the WolfJack London17h 31m4.5 (2.4K)$1.99 · $0.00

Zen and the Art of Saving the PlanetThich Nhat Hanh9h 20m4.5 (3.9K)$29 · $0.00

BLACK BEAUTY (With Original Illustrations)Anna Sewell7h 31m4.5 (1.3K)$1.99 · $0.00

Bottle of LiesKatherine Eban14h 25m4.4 (12K)$33 · $0.00

IngrainedCallum Robinson8h 10m4.5 (1.1K)$26 · $0.00