Prof. Yigal Ronen and student Eugene Schwegraus from Ben Gurion University claim to have proven that nuclear fuel can be used for propulsion in space and will dramatically shorten the flight time to Mars
A new study at Ben Gurion University claims: nuclear fuel will allow a person to reach Mars in two weeks, instead of eight to ten months with the rocket propulsion method accepted today.
The new study was worked on for a long time by Prof. Yigal Ronan, director of the nuclear engineering department at Ben Gurion University, and a master's degree student in the nuclear engineering department, Eugene Schwagraus.
According to the research, the nuclear fuel could be used for propulsion in space and would allow a person to reach from Earth to Mars within two weeks. Today, rocket propulsion is used based on a chemical reaction and in principle allows a manned trip from Earth to Mars in between eight and ten months.
In the scientific article published by the two researchers in the journal "Nuclear Methods and Instruments in Physical Research", they present calculations that support and establish this conclusion. In the article, the researchers demonstrate how the rare substance abritium 242M can cause continuous nuclear fission as occurs in nuclear reactors. In this way, the nuclear fission products that have a very high temperature can come out of the fuel layers and be a means of propulsion in space directly or indirectly.
Prof. Ronan became interested in reactors for propulsion in space already 12 years ago and even then suggested using the nuclear fuel Americium, due to its special nuclear properties. The researchers at Ben Gurion University examined the design of the nuclear system when the nuclear fuel is extremely thin and found that this is possible. In principle, it has been proven that there is a possibility to carry out propulsion in space at a sufficiently high speed that will allow you to reach Mars in a very short time.
Currently, there are still many difficulties before the new nuclear fuel can be used in space. Despite this, Prof. Ronen states that the use of americium for rocket propulsion is currently the only real, proven alternative that allows reaching the high speeds necessary for propulsion in space.
