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The project, in concert with US government agency DARPA, aims to develop pioneering propulsion system for space travel as soon as 2027:
The project is intended to develop a pioneering propulsion system for space travel far different from the chemical systems prevalent since the modern era of rocketry dawned almost a century ago.
"Using a nuclear thermal rocket allows for faster transit time, reducing risk for astronauts," Nasa said in a press release.
[...] Using current technology, Nasa says, the 300m-mile journey to Mars would take about seven months. Engineers do not yet know how much time could be shaved off using nuclear technology, but Bill Nelson, the Nasa administrator, said it would allow spacecraft, and humans, to travel in deep space at record speed.
[...] Using low thrust efficiently, nuclear electric propulsion systems accelerate spacecraft for extended periods and can propel a Mars mission for a fraction of the propellant of high-thrust systems.
Also at CNN and Engadget. Link to Nasa press release.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday January 28, @08:08PM (1 child)
Directly from Earth? Not likely! It would take off from Earth with a chemical rocket as its first stage. Once it's in space it can spew all the radioactivity it can, which is the very reason for using nukes in the first place, to have them in the gamma ray machine that is outer space in as short a time as possible.
You still have to do a hell of a lot more than just get there to be in any way useful.
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Saturday January 28, @09:38PM
I certainly hope so! I just grabbed a couple of the delta-V's I could recall offhand to demonstrate how the benefit is highly delta-V dependent
Though if I recall correctly some of the NTR designs should theoretically be safe for use in the atmosphere...so long as nothing goes wrong...