United States of America as Represented by the Administrator of Nasa

The United States of America as Represented by the Administrator of the

Georgia Tech Research Corporation

Dennis M Bushnell

Sang Hyouk Choi

Adam J Duzik

David R Komar

Robert C Hendricks

Jason C Reed

Leonard M Weinstein

Robert J Englar

Robert W Moses

Bruce J Holmes

Paul M Vijgen

Floyd G Howard

E Leon Morrisette

The present disclosure is directed to a system including a nuclear thermal rocket or a nuclear reactor, at least one nuclear electric thruster coupled to the nuclear thermal rocket or the nuclear reactor, and a Nuclear Thermionic Avalanche Cell (NTAC) configured to generate electrical power. The NTAC cell may be positioned around a nuclear reactor core of the nuclear thermal rocket or the nuclear reactor, and the nuclear electric thruster may be powered by the NTAC generated electrical power.

NTAC augmented nuclear electric propulsion and/or nuclear thermal propulsion

Various aspects include electric generators configured to boost electrical output by leveraging electron avalanche generated by a high energy photon radiation source. In various aspects, an electric generator includes a stator and a rotor positioned within the stator, wherein the stator and rotor are configured to generate electric current when the rotor is rotated, and a high energy photon source (e.g., a gamma ray source) positioned and configured to irradiate at least a portion of conductors in the rotor or stator. In some aspects, the stator generates a magnetic field when the electric generator is operating, and the rotor includes armature windings configured to generate electric current when the rotor is rotated. In some aspects, the high energy photon source includes cobalt-60 and/or cesium-137.

High performance electric generators boosted by nuclear electron avalanche (NEA)

The present disclosure is directed to a nuclear thermionic avalanche cell (NTAC) systems and related methods of generating energy comprising a radioisotope core, a plurality of thin-layered radioisotope sources configured to emit high energy beta particles and high energy photons, and a plurality of NTAC layers integrated with the radioisotope core and the radioisotope sources, wherein the plurality of NTAC layers are configured to receive the beta particles and the photons from the radioisotope core and sources, and by the received beta particles and photons, free up electrons in an avalanche process from deep and intra bands of an atom to output a high density avalanche cell thermal energy through a photo-ionic or thermionic process of the freed up electrons.

Multi-layered radio-isotope for enhanced photoelectron avalanche process

The present disclosure is directed to nuclear thermionic avalanche cell (NTAC) systems and related methods of generating energy from captured high energy photons. Huge numbers of electrons in the intra-band of atom can be liberated through bound-to-free transition when coupled with high energy photons. If a power conversion process effectively utilizes these liberated electrons in an avalanche form through a power conversion circuit, the power output will be drastically increased. The power density of a system can be multiplied by the rate of high energy photon absorption. The present disclosure describes a system and methods built with multilayers of nuclear thermionic avalanche cells for the generation of energy. The multilayer structure of NTAC devices offers effective recoverable means to capture and harness the energy of gamma photons for useful purposes such as power systems for deep space exploration.

Multi-layer structure of nuclear thermionic avalanche cells

An aircraft comprising a Channel Wing having blown channel circulation control wings (CCW) for various functions. The blown channel CCW includes a channel that has a rounded or near-round trailing edge. The channel further has a trailing-edge slot that is adjacent to the rounded trailing edge of the channel. The trailing-edge slot has an inlet connected to a source of pressurized air and is capable of tangentially discharging pressurized air over the rounded trailing edge. The aircraft further has a propeller that is located in the channel and ahead of the rounded trailing edge of the channel. The propeller provides a propeller thrust exhaust stream across the channel wing to propel the aircraft through the air and to provide high lift. The pressurized air being discharged over the rounded trailing edge provides a high lift that is obtained independent of an aircraft angle of attack, thus preventing the asymmetry, separated flow, and stall experienced by the CC wing at the high angle of attack it required for high lift generation. The aircraft can further include blown outboard circulation control wings (CCW) that are synergistically connected to the blown channel CCWs. The blown outboard CCWs provide additional high lift, control thrust/drag interchange, and can provide all three aerodynamic moments when differential blowing is applied front-to-rear or left-to-right. Both the blown channel CCW and the outboard CCW also have leading-edge blowing slots to prevent flow separation or to provide aerodynamic moments for control.

Channel-wing system for thrust deflection and force/moment generation

A process for reducing skin friction and inhibiting the effects of liquid turbulence in a system involving the flow of a liquid along the surface of a body, e.g. a marine vehicle, includes injecting a drag reducing polymer into the valleys of adjacent, evenly spaced, longitudinal grooves extending along the length of the surface of the body, so that the rate of diffusion of the polymer from individual grooves into the liquid flow is predictably controlled by the groove dimensions. When the polymer has diffused over the tips of the grooves into the near wall region of the boundary layer, the polymer effectively reduces the turbulent skin friction. A substantial drag reducing effect is achieved with less polymer than must be used to lower skin friction when the surface of the body is smooth.

Polymer/riblet combination for hydrodynamic skin friction reduction

An improvement in the lift and drag characteristics of a lifting surface is achieved by attaching a serrated panel to the trailing edge of the lifting surface. The serrations may have a saw-tooth configuration, with a 60.degree. included angle between adjacent serrations. The serrations may vary in shape and size over the span-wise length of the lifting surface, and may be positioned at fixed or adjustable deflections relative to the chord of the lifting surface.

Serrated trailing edges for improving lift and drag characteristics of

A process for reducing skin friction, inhibiting the effects of liquid turbulence, and decreasing heat transfer in a system involving flow of a liquid along a surface of a body includes applying a substantially integral sheet of a gas, e.g., air, immediately adjacent to the surface of the body, e.g., a marine vehicle, which has a longitudinally grooved surface in proximity with the liquid and with a surface material having high contact angle between the liquid and said wall to reduce interaction of the liquid, e.g., water, with the surface of the body, e.g., the hull of the marine vehicle.

Hydrodynamic skin-friction reduction

The present invention discloses a particle generating system which is capable of breaking up agglomerations of particles and producing a cloud of uniform, submicron-sized particles at high pressure and high flow rates. This is achieved by utilizing a tubular structure 11 which has injection microslits 12 on its periphery to accept and disperse the desired particle feed 16. By supplying a carrying fluid 19 at a pressure, P.sub.in, of approximately twice the ambient pressure of the velocimeter's settling chamber 20, P.sub.sc, the microslits 12 will operate at choked flow conditions. The shearing action of this choked flow is sufficient to overcome interparticle bonding forces, thereby breaking up the agglomerates of the particle feed 16 into individual particles.

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Hayes, VA, United States of America

Dennis M Bushnell