Xref: utzoo sci.space:31019 sci.space.shuttle:7953
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: space news from April 8 AW&ST
Message-ID: <1991May29.050238.23965@zoo.toronto.edu>
Date: Wed, 29 May 1991 05:02:38 GMT
References: <1991May24.041512.7497@zoo.toronto.edu> <3405@phred.UUCP>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

In article <3405@phred.UUCP> petej@phred.UUCP (Peter Jarvis) writes:
>>.... [Hmm, I wonder if they've thought about the problems
>>of nuclear clustering?  One has to beware of interactions between reactors,
>>since they are unshielded and right beside each other.]
>>
>They are in the business of thinking about such problems.

Are they?  At least some of the nuclear-propulsion concepts currently being
noised around have been criticized as having too many rocket people and not
enough nuclear people involved.  One should not automatically assume that
subtle issues like this have been studied carefully.

My (dim) recollection is that nuclear-engine clustering was all but
abandoned in NERVA days due to nuclear interaction problems.

>>NASA is interested in Timberwind but is wary of public outcry and suspects
>>that commitment to a specific advanced reactor design is premature.  [They
>>would prefer to spend half a decade studying it first, as usual.]...... 
>>
>You don't just slap something like this together and launch it.

If you ever want to launch it, sooner or later you have to decide that
concept X has had enough studies and it's time to build something.  There
is nothing wrong with continuing studies, but they should not be confused
with developing useful hardware.  NASA currently has far too many studies
and far too little hardware development.  It's time to pick the half-dozen
most promising ideas and put some real development money into them, in full
recognition that at least a couple will probably be blind alleys.  "To find
oil, drill lots of wells."
-- 
"We're thinking about upgrading from    | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
SunOS 4.1.1 to SunOS 3.5."              |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry