Overview of Nonnuclear Testing of the Safe, Affordable 30-kW Fission Engine, Including End-to-End Demonstrator Testing

Successful development of space fission systems will require an extensive program of affordable and realistic testing. In addition to tests related to design/development of the fission system, realistic testing of the actual flight unit must also be performed. At the power levels under consideration (3–300 kW electric power), almost all technical issues are thermal or stress related and will not be strongly affected by the radiation environment. These issues can be resolved more thoroughly, less expensively, and in a more timely fashion with nonnuclear testing, provided it is prototypic of the system in question. This approach was used for the safe, affordable fission engine test article development program and accomplished via cooperative efforts with Department of Energy labs, industry, universities, and other NASA Centers. This Technical Memorandum covers the analysis, testing, and data reduction of a 30-kW simulated reactor as well as an end-to-end demonstrator, including a power conversion system and an electric propulsion engine, the first of its kind in the United States.