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The goal of the Summer Fellowship program is to provide participants an opportunity to learn and evaluate current issues involving nuclear power and propulsion technologies for space exploration. This year a variety of projects will be evaluated, including surface fission power, radioisotopic power, and nuclear propulsion for rapid satellite deployment.. The Fellowships will be granted for roughly 10 weeks and will be stationed at the CSNR in Idaho Falls, ID.
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The 2007 program is composed of three different opportunities:
- Support INL staff in experimental work on fabricating refractory nuclear fuels
- Fellows electing to work on the fuels fabrication effort will assist INL staff in producing tungsten cermet samples of varying constituency. The samples will be assessed for charactreristic properties and may be used as targets for hot hydrogen testing. The period of work is defined by the availability of the applicants.
- Support INL staff in risk analysis and human factors assessment
- Fellows chosen to work on the risk analysis and human factors effort will assist INL staff on projects currently funded by NASA on either chemical or nuclear propulsion systems. The period of work is defined by the availability of the applicants.
- Operate as part of a team for CSNR to evaluate one of the following technologies:
- Design of a Lunar Surface Simulation Facility – The environment on the Moon is extremely harsh. Future robotic operations on the Lunar surface are intended to survive for long periods, months to years. In order to insure long life of robotic systems, a high fidelity simulator of the Lunar surface can be constructed so that all conditions except partial gravity are present. The student team will examine design of the simulator, model the thermal and vacuum conditions that can be created, and assess potential costs.
- Advanced Radioisotope Power Sources – Examine the issues involved in using alternative radioisotopes, advanced power conversion methods and alternative production mechanisms. Perform an assessment of cost versus utility for space missions.
- Rapid Deployment of satellites – The team will evaluate the concept of using a NTR stationed in high Earth orbit to rapidly deploy an array of satellites into low Earth orbit. Orbital constraints, operation issues and platform masses will be evaluated.
Fellows chosen to work on the risk analysis and human factors effort will assist INL staff on projects currently funded by NASA on either chemical or nuclear propulsion systems.
The Lunar Outpost study will entail Fellows operating as a team or group of teams to evaluate technology options, sub-systems, performance, development costs, and mission options, in essence, concept evaluation through implementation. The results of the summer project will be presented to NASA headquarters. Fellows working on task 1 and task 2 will also participate in the study effort as available.
- Advanced Fission Surface Power – The team will evaluate the feasibility of a very advanced reactor design for operation on the Lunar surface.
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During the summer, speakers from NASA centers, DOE labs, and industry will present their interests in a weekly seminar series. In addition, INL staff will be available to the team to act as mentors on different technical topics.
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