2014 NIAC Symposium Live

[Skipjack]

I did like MSNWs presentation, though I was hoping that they would have a bit more to show by now. I agree on the liner issues and the problems with the low cycle frequency. I think that it sounds worse than it is though and they might find another solution for this once they get the basic problems to a higher TRL. Also note that they think they can do as low as 30 days once the system is fully optimized. TRITON does not bring the same Isp and it has the problem that you need a lot more cooling for the reactor, when it is not running. I am all for nuclear thermal propulsion and have had some heated arguments with some of the opponents on NSF, but I think that MSNWs fusion driven rocket (provided it works as predicted) is superior to TRITON. Plus you don't have the political unwillingness to do it. Anyway, I just don't think that mars colonization will work out with trip times longer than 90 days. In fact, I find 30 days just OK. I know lots of NSFers and Zubrin think differently, but I think they are dreamers. So either we get a propulsion system hat does 30 day trips to mars, or mars is going to see nothing more than a single manned mission in the next 50 years.