NERVA
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- Marcus Cocceius Nerva was also the name of a Roman emperor
NERVA is an acronym for Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application. It was a nuclear thermal rocket. The NERVA rocket engine was based on Kiwi nuclear reactor technology. In the early 1960s NASA planned to use NERVA to power a RIFT (Reactor-In-Flight-Test) nuclear stage to be launched in the early 1970s. The completed NERVA would be a nuclear powered upper stage for the Saturn V, which would allow the upgraded Saturn to launch interplanetary payloads. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center had the development responsibility for the rocket stage.
From the beginning the program had a number of problems. It was very expensive. It never held much public support, owing to the growing anti-nuclear lobby in the United States in the early 1970s. There were environmental concerns and the test engines themselves never managed to produce more than 40% of their theoretical thrust, which made them far less powerful than contemporary conventional rocket engines.
The program was cancelled in 1972.
[edit] NERVA Rocket Stage Specifications
- Diameter: 10.55 m
- Length: 43.69 m
- Weight empty: 34,019 kg
- Weight full: 178,321 kg
- Thrust (vacuum): 867 kN
- ISP (vacuum): 825 s (8.09 kN·s/kg)
- ISP (sea level): 380 s (3.73 kN·s/kg)
- Burn Time: 1,200 s
- Propellants: Nuclear/LH2
- Engines: 1 Nerva-2
