Chemically propelled rockets can lift less than 5 percent of their take-off weight into orbit, a fact that could forever limit the space program. Nuclear-powered rockets, however, with their superior thrusting power and speed, are radically different. So argues James A. Dewar in the only comprehensive history ever written of the nuclear rocket project. It is a story of political battles over the space program's future, involving Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, and a readable account of its technical successes, a story perhaps more interesting and certainly more important, Dewar believes, than the history of atomic and H-bomb development. Dewar maintains that only by reestablishing a nuclear rocket project can the nation have a space program worthy of the 21st century, one that makes reality of the hopes and dreams of science fiction.
To the End of the Solar System
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
James A. Dewar worked exclusively on nuclear affairs in the Department of Energy, the Energy Research and Development Administration and the Atomic Energy Commission. He lives in Oxford, Maryland.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitive Narrative History,
This review is from: To the End of the Solar System: The Story of the Nuclear Rocket (Hardcover)
Six million horsepower from a reactor the size of a 55 gallon drum. This was the promise of the ultimate in all-American 60's muscle - the nuclear thermal rocket engine. With it, you could send jumbo jet sized payloads to the Moon, or send a crew to Mars in 3 months.
James A. Dewar's exhaustively researched work (there are 91 pages of footnotes) shows both the technical and political sides of the 18 year effort to develop the nuclear rocket. Like the space program itself, the nuclear rocket program was a creature of the Washington political process. While lacking the polish of a David McCullough, Dewar does a good job of introducing the cast of characters and their competing visions for America's technologic and social future. Dewar's thesis is that the nuclear engine was feasible and would have revolutionized space travel, boosting mankind into a 2001 Space Odyssey. I found his viewpoint to be refreshing, especially in contrast to the dour visions of historians such as Richard Rhodes. He devotes Appendix D of the book to "safety and environmental aspects of testing." Perhaps the most poignant vision one gets from reading the book is that of the turning of a page in American history. With the end of Apollo and the nuclear engine project in 1973 we go from an era of limitless promise, to an era of sharply limited outcomes.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
History in Limbo,
By Metryq (Boylston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: To the End of the Solar System: The Story of the Nuclear Rocket (Hardcover)
To The End of the Solar System is an excellent primer on the nuclear rocket -- the history that might have been, and still waiting to be. It is a story even avid spaceflight fans may not have heard. Dewar presents a very readable account of the visionary engineers, project managers, and politicians who developed the first nuclear thermal rockets. The narrative covers the politics and engineering (with supplementary appendices) without being overwhelming. It explains why the nuclear rocket is superior to chemical engines, yet why the world failed to embrace it. The technology has lain dormant for decades, but is quietly making a revival in NASA's project Prometheus and elsewhere. Learn where it all started and where it's going; read To The End of the Solar System. It is well worth the price of admission.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
historical aspect in rocketry,
By brucie b (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: To the End of the Solar System: The Story of the Nuclear Rocket (Hardcover)
Excellent book... a must read for anyone interested in space propulsion technology which needs a 'second look' to enable humans to bridge our Solar System in the future.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds," said Robert Oppenheimer in July 1945 following Trinity, the world's first nuclear weapon test, drawing his quote from the Bhagavad-Gita, an Indian religious book. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
fuel element development, nuclear rocket program, launch pad accident, manned planetary missions, neutronic properties, space committee, rocket reactors, nuclear airplane, nuclear rocketry, carbide fuels, chronology file, nuclear rockets, nuclear rocket engine, control drums, hot testing, nuclear engine, pulse cooling, beryllium reflector, nuclear thermal rockets, shuttle decision, thermal propulsion, chemical rocket engines, nuclear shuttle, atomic rockets, space nuclear power Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Los Alamos, White House, United States, Space Council, New Mexico, Soviet Union, Cold War, North American, Great Society, Margaret Chase Smith, Oak Ridge, World War, New York, Aerojet General, Grand Tour, Manhattan Project, Marshall Space Flight Center, New Frontier, President Bush, Vietnam War, Air Force One, Ben Pinkel, Las Vegas, Old Black Joe, Overton Brooks New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds," said Robert Oppenheimer in July 1945 following Trinity, the world's first nuclear weapon test, drawing his quote from the Bhagavad-Gita, an Indian religious book. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
fuel element development, nuclear rocket program, launch pad accident, manned planetary missions, neutronic properties, space committee, rocket reactors, nuclear airplane, nuclear rocketry, carbide fuels, chronology file, nuclear rockets, nuclear rocket engine, control drums, hot testing, nuclear engine, pulse cooling, beryllium reflector, nuclear thermal rockets, shuttle decision, thermal propulsion, chemical rocket engines, nuclear shuttle, atomic rockets, space nuclear power Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Los Alamos, White House, United States, Space Council, New Mexico, Soviet Union, Cold War, North American, Great Society, Margaret Chase Smith, Oak Ridge, World War, New York, Aerojet General, Grand Tour, Manhattan Project, Marshall Space Flight Center, New Frontier, President Bush, Vietnam War, Air Force One, Ben Pinkel, Las Vegas, Old Black Joe, Overton Brooks New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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