ROCKET PROPULSION — COOPER 313 



Several reactor tests (Kiwi A series) were held in 1959-GO, using 

 graphite fuel loaded with enriched uranium and gaseous hydrogen 

 as the propellant. During 1961-62 further tests (Kiwi B series, pi. 1) 

 were held, including the use of liquid hydrogen and components (e.g., 

 pump and nozzle), more appropriate to a flyable engine. Effort is 

 gomg into a flight test vehicle which will probably be flown in the 

 mid and late 1960's. 



Development of various engines and power supplies for electrical 

 propulsion is under way, with plans to test the engines for short flight 

 periods in space in 1962 and 1963, using the Scout solid rocket as a 

 booster and chemical batteries for the power supply. More extensive 

 tests and use will come in the mid-1960's and depend primarily on the 

 nuclear electric power sources. Nuclear explosion propulsion is at 

 an early stage of research, but the scheme has been checked with a 3- 

 foot diameter, 300-pound scale model, using 3-pound high-explosive 

 changes. 



We can expect liquid-fuel chemical rockets to be the workhorses in 

 the 1960's, with nuclear upper stages for many missions, and possibly 

 solid propellant first stages. Electric propulsion may be used, starting 

 from orbit, for deep-space missions. Some of the more advanced 

 schemes, such as nuclear explosion propulsion, may come to fruition 

 near the end of the decade. 



