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Combined Heat Shield and Solar Thermal Propulsion System for an Oberth Maneuver
As humanity continues its exploration of space, many space missions are enabled by increases in speed. Examples include outer planet and dwarf planet exploration missions and missions that travel through our solar system into interstellar space. For many of these applications speeds of >10 astronomical units per year (AU/yr) are desired. A powered gravity assist around the Sun may offer the best option for reaching this goal; however, current heat shields and kick stages are too heavy or generate too little thrust. Solar thermal propulsion overcomes this tradeoff by converting the heat of the Sun into thrust. By tripling the specific impulse relative to chemical propulsion and by enabling a smaller perihelion through active cooling, this approach nearly doubles the escape velocity. Our team has designed and built working solar thermal propulsion prototypes out of materials that can survive 2700 K at a 30 x 30 cm scale. These benchtop-scale demonstrations have thus far validated the simplifying assumptions that underlie our thermal and propulsion models. Despite growing confidence that a full-scale heat shield/heat exchanger can survive an Oberth maneuver, many questions remain regarding the feasibility of long-term cryogenic storage of hydrogen propellant.