Can scientists really build powerful nuclear-powered spacecraft? What materials do they need?

We should know that the traditional rocket engines of human beings are all liquid or solid fuels. Because of the limited energy of this principle, the load and flight distance of human spacecraft are fundamentally limited. In this case, we should all understand that manned space flight can only fly around the earth, and long-distance flight is completed by unmanned exploration satellites. A large part of this is because of rocket engines and the fuel they use.

We should know that nuclear energy was invented long ago. At first, Einstein participated in nuclear energy research for the benefit of mankind, but contrary to expectations, nuclear energy was first used as a weapon, and it was an atomic bomb with amazing lethality. With the continuous progress of human science and technology, the utilization rate of nuclear energy is getting higher and higher, and at the same time, nuclear energy technology is also improving, such as nuclear power plants and nuclear aircraft carriers, which are widely used all over the world.

So let's go back to the previous question. Since nuclear energy is so efficient, why can't it be used on spacecraft? In fact, human beings have thought about this issue decades ago, but because the technology at that time was not enough to realize the denuclearization of the spacecraft, this idea has never been realized. But recently, there is good news that NASA is going to cooperate with nuclear power companies to build the first nuclear-powered spacecraft.

In the traditional nuclear energy equipment, we all use the heat energy generated by the huge energy of nuclear energy to obtain power, so we need a lot of water here. You know, the weight of the spaceship is very heavy, and everything it carries is useful. If you look at it this way, it is unrealistic to carry a lot of water space.

Then there is another way to use nuclear energy, which is indirect heating. Through the heat generated by nuclear energy reaction, we can use this heat to make the aircraft generate electricity. Therefore, it is necessary to separate the radiation zone of nuclear reaction from the air heating zone. At first, both the United States and the Soviet Union adopted this research direction. However, due to the complicated technology and the extremely high precision of nuclear energy, neither country succeeded in the end.

Our conventional rocket launch can only maintain a short distance, which is too little for the whole solar system, so new energy is the future development direction. In order to better explore the universe and realize space migration, nuclear-powered engines are a good goal, so people began to realize this initial idea. I believe that as long as our science continues to develop, it will come true one day.