Additively Manufactured Ceramic Heat Pipes for Space Nuclear Reactors

Nuclear electric propulsion systems provide a variety of benefits including increased science payload, reduced flight times and longer mission lifetimes. These advantages enable a wide range of missions such as manned missions to Mars, unmanned missions to the outer planets and deep-space. The thermal management system linking the reactor to the hot end of the power conversion system must be efficient, lightweight and reliable. These requirements become more challenging as the total power scales to the megawatt level.In this SBIR program, Advanced Cooling Technologies in collaboration USNC-Tech will develop an additively manufactured high-power ceramic thermal management system for space nuclear applications. The system will be highly reliable, passive, efficient, and lightweight. The use of ceramics will result in substantial mass and volume savings to the reactor and thermal management system.