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Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, October 15, 2018 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

Sean Gallagher

"Atomic Flight: a History of the Quest for Nuclear-Powered Aircraft"

ABSTRACT -- Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the development of a new cruise missiles powered by a nuclear jet engine. Such an engine aboard a cruise missile-with a practically unlimited range-would be a dangerous step toward a new arms race. But is it really possible?

Nuclear aircraft engines have been attempted in the past, both by the US and the former Soviet Union. Nuclear thermal propulsion has been examined for manned aircraft, unmanned systems, and spacecraft, and it came close to becoming a reality in the early 1960s. But air-breathing nuclear jet engines pose some particular practical challenges. I'll discuss the history of nuclear manned and uncrewed flight, and whether nuclear jets are really possible with modern nuclear technology. I'll also touch on some of the more practical technology that was born out of US research into nuclear powered jets.

SPEAKER -- Sean Gallagher is the Information Technology and National Security Editor of Ars Technica. A former Navy officer, Sean has been a technology writer and journalist for over 25 years, beginning with a position at Government Computer News, where he began as both a reporter and network administrator. His first published work on the history of aircraft technology was companion content to the 1990 PC game, Gunship 2000. Sean has received the Jesse H. Neal Award and multiple multiple American Society of Business Publication Editors awards for his work. At Ars Technica since 2011, he frequently writes on the history of technology.

Engineering Colloquium home page: https://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov