What was the Pluto project?

Project Pluto was a slam or a supersonic missile with low heights, a bold project of the Cold War, which was designed to create a nuclear ballistic missile under the radar. Research was conducted by scientists from Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, the predecessor of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, while the testing took place at the Nevada test point, where most nuclear tests took place during the era. The project took place from 1957 to 1964. It was canceled when the improvement in radar technology made its low -flying properties outdated and intercontinental ballistic missile technology proved easier than expected.

The Pluto signature component was 513 megawatt nuclear reactor, which suckled the warmed air from the front of the rocket, and fired it from behind. This arrangement is called Ramjet or Air breathing missile. The Pluto rocket was designed to travel Mach 3 at the tree level. Its nuclear reactor would emitovalSmrti radiation on a large radius. Was proposedEN to be a rocket bomber and drop more nuclear heads as he traveled on his way of destruction. We should all be grateful that the Pluto project has never been completed.

Project Pluto, if the device was actually built, it would probably be craft that experiences the most tension on the free frame outside the spacecraft or ballistic missiles that repeat above the atmosphere. The reactor operated at 2,500 ° F (1,600 ° C), temperatures at which conventional materials would melt in minutes. Instead, special ceramics for reactor components were used. Given the efficiency of its nuclear engine, the Pluto project rocket could remain in the air of the moon, if necessary, circle the Pacific until it was ordered to hit the target. The rocket could have the highest energy density of any piece of military hardware AT Time, wrap half the gigawatt energy into a package of railway sizeAbout the car.

Although the project Pluto was a military persecution, it emphasizes the power of nuclear drive for air or astronautic applications in general. There is no comparison in relation to the use of conventional chemicals to power aircraft or missiles. Nuclear energy provides excellent energy for fragments of the center to the dollar compared to chemical combustion. If safety challenges surrounding nuclear reactors can be resolved, then their use could open the sky - and space - for the long -term future.