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Originally Posted by TheBigDog
The center cylinder is the nuclear fuel plus the liquid fuel used for trim controls and fueling the probes and shuttles. It is meant to last for 100 years of full throttle, plus multiple missions for the smaller craft, so it is big. I am not sure if the proportions are correct. The yellow section is the nuclear rocket that propels the ship.
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I hate to rain on your parade, but for your fuel to last 100 yrs at full throttle:
The ISP of a nuclear rocket theoretically can be between 10,000 and 1,000,000 sec.
Using the highest value, and applying a thrust of only 1/1000 g, you would need a mass ratio (fuel to empty ship) of 23. Meaning you would need 23 kg of fuel for every kg of ship.
At a thrust of 1/100 g, the mass ratio jumps up to
5 x 10^13! Meaning that for every kg of ship you would need an amount of fuel equal to 1/36 the mass of the Martian moon Deimos.
