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Description

NIMF (Nuclear rocket using Indigenous Martian Fuel) on the surface. This single-stage vehicle would launch on a single Ares or Shuttle-Z rocket, go to Mars under its own power, refuel within just hours/days using CO2 straight from the atmosphere, and directly return to Earth

CO2/thermal is the most ISRU-efficient propellant for Mars, orders of magnitude cheaper than chemical by MWh. No mining or drilling needed, no electrolysis, nearly 100% of atmospheric intake is usable propellant, and only modest cooling is required to liquify it vs ambient temp

Since it already requires a nuclear reactor for propulsion, it is able to carry its own propellant factory on every flight, avoiding the need for pre-placed infrastructure. This makes it useful for short (possibly suborbital) sorties to new locations, like Lockheed Martin's MADV

With its built-in reactor (providing 1 MW electrical power), propellant for a direct Earth-return flight could be done in a little under a day, or about 14 hours for a Mars-orbit-only flight, or single-digit hours for a suborbital hop

LCO2's high density also allows this relatively modest vehicle size and single-stage-to-Mars architecture. Separate OTVs were proposed as well to shorten trip times, add margin, or allow centrifugal artificial gravity, but were optional future optimizations, not required

My NIMF rocket 3d model is available now on CGTrader

Description

NIMF (Nuclear rocket using Indigenous Martian Fuel) on the surface. This single-stage vehicle would launch on a single Ares or Shuttle-Z rocket, go to Mars under its own power, refuel within just hours/days using CO2 straight from the atmosphere, and directly return to Earth

CO2/thermal is the most ISRU-efficient propellant for Mars, orders of magnitude cheaper than chemical by MWh. No mining or drilling needed, no electrolysis, nearly 100% of atmospheric intake is usable propellant, and only modest cooling is required to liquify it vs ambient temp

Since it already requires a nuclear reactor for propulsion, it is able to carry its own propellant factory on every flight, avoiding the need for pre-placed infrastructure. This makes it useful for short (possibly suborbital) sorties to new locations, like Lockheed Martin's MADV

With its built-in reactor (providing 1 MW electrical power), propellant for a direct Earth-return flight could be done in a little under a day, or about 14 hours for a Mars-orbit-only flight, or single-digit hours for a suborbital hop

LCO2's high density also allows this relatively modest vehicle size and single-stage-to-Mars architecture. Separate OTVs were proposed as well to shorten trip times, add margin, or allow centrifugal artificial gravity, but were optional future optimizations, not required

My NIMF rocket 3d model is available now on CGTrader