Thermonuclear Rocket Engine
Thermonuclear Rocket Engine
a hypothetical nuclear rocket engine that develops thrust by ejecting the products of a controlled thermonuclear reaction or by ejecting a working fluid, such as hydrogen, that has been heated by the energy released in the reaction. The theoretical velocity of the rocket exhaust from a thermonuclear engine is several thousand kilometers per second. Thermonuclear rocket engines are of potential use in near-earth and interplanetary spaceflights.