Tales of the Groundbound: Opening A New Path, Chapter 26

[steuben]

Chapter 26

Linus sat behind the panel table at another proposal meeting. “This is something Wernher should be at,” he thought. This was the fifth proposal of the afternoon, and the third orbital telescope. He looked at the notes from the previous two. This one overlapped their missions. But not enough to easily blend them together into one mission.

“Thank-you, Thompley,” Elitte, the head of the panel, said. “Are there any questions from the panel?”

Linus half listened to the questions and answers as he looked at the three proposals. The overlap between them was probably one project team pitching their work in different ways. Some of the mission parameters seemed to be mutually exclusive, so they probably could not be lumped together. The design group would be able to confirm.

Linus refocus towards the presenter as he said. “Thank-you, for your time.”

He heard Gus blow out a long slow breath after the door closed.

“We get a couple of pics taken through an el-cheapo 6cm on cheap film that somebody smuggled up to a KOL,” Khenry said, “Suddenly big orbital telescopes are all the rage.”

“Easy for you to say,” Gus said. “It’ll mean more birds in flight.”

“Like I don’t have enough already. The KOLs have already been split off.”

“We might be able blend to the three together,” Linus said. “Given a pretty rough estimate on the size it could be placed in the KOL group. But design would be better able to figure out if they can on the same platform. Most likely two out of the three can.”

“Okay,” said Elitte. “Last one.”

She gestured to the door. It opened. In walked a kebalina barely holding a flipchart. She got it setup on the stand after nearly knocking it over. She looked at the panel like a deer in the headlights.

“Go ahead,” Elitte looked at a sheet of paper. “Kalerie.”

“Thank-you,” her voice cracked. “As you know the isp of an engine is related to the square root of the temperature of the exhaust. The operating temperatures of the current designs represent nearly the peak of what can be achieved chemically without using hazardous fuels and/or oxidisers, or generating hazardous exhaust products.”

She glanced at the clock on the wall and looked back at the panel. She flipped the first page on the chart. She cleared her throat.

“While gains with nozzle designs and such can incrementally improve isp and thrust. Little short of radical new chemistry and metallurgy will allow for great leaps.”

She flipped the paper on the chart.

“My proposal is use a fission reactor to heat reaction mass directly instead of using a chemical reaction.” She points to a set of figures on one side. “With the an exhaust temperature around current engines there is a two-fold increase in delta-v using the same mass of fuel, as L-Ox engine at the same thrust.”

She flipped the chart again. “Using temperatures attainable with conventional fission piles, this can be doubled again.”

She flipped the chart again. “The proposal has two phases. The first is a design and feasibility study. This phase will determine design and material parameters. The second assuming no contra-indications, would the progression to the construction and design of a prototype series of the engine.

“Are there any questions?”

“Kalerie,” Elitte said. “Are you familiar with the Orkus Project?”

“Yes.” Nervousness crept into Kalerie’s hands. ”It was a design concept to use nuclear… explosives to lift very large masses into orbit and beyond. It proceeded to concept testing. But, it was canceled before testing with nuclear explosives.”

“Yes. How does this differ from Orkus?”

“Orkus used the impulse of the nuclear explosion itself. Either the atmospheric shock wave of the blast, or the high energy photons generated by the reaction in vacuum. The N.E.R.V. engine design uses the heat from a nuclear reactor in a similar fashion to how a chemical engine uses a chemical reaction to heat reaction mass to generate thrust. The reactor remains with the engine for continuous use, rather than being dropped off the back and used once.”

Linus reviewed the project dossier with half his attention. It had an elegance to it, unlike the mad simplicity of Orkus. Most of his attention was focused on the presenter. He wasn’t sure if it was the concept or the presenting kerbalina that drew it.