3.0 SPACECRAFT SYSTEMS
3.1 Power
Power for the instruments, computer, communication lasers, and star trackers will be supplied by a 300 kilowatt nuclear reactor. This reactor will be compact-sized, have a low specific mass, long life, high reliability, and a variable power output. Different systems were compared, and a design published by Jones, MacPherson, and Nichols, of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory was chosen and scaled down to suit the needs of the Centauri mission.
This power system concept defines a nuclear reactor with ceramic fuel, clad with refractory metal, and cooled by liquid potassium (1365 K). Also described is a direct, closed Rankine power conversion cycle, and a large tetraxial flywheel energy storage system featuring graphite composite materials and magnetic bearings. The fuel is is enriched uranium nitride pellets. The reactor and flywheel systems will be constructed as separate modules designed to fit in the shuttle cargo bay.
The reactor will boil potassium which will then be piped through a turbine that will convert the thermal
