NASA and DARPA will test nuclear thermal engines for crewed missions to Mars | Engadget

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NASA and DARPA will test nuclear thermal engines for crewed missions to Mars

) to test a nuclear thermal rocket engine in space with the aim of using the technology for crewed missions to the red planet. The agencies hope to"demonstrate advanced nuclear thermal propulsion technology as soon as 2027," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said."With the help of this new technology, astronauts could journey to and from deep space faster than ever — a major capability to prepare for crewed missions to Mars.

Under the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations program, NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate will take the lead on technical development of the engine, which will be integrated with an experimental spacecraft from DARPA. NASA says that nuclear thermal propulsion could allow spacecraft to travel faster, which could reduce the volume of supplies needed to carry out a long mission.

As far back as the 1940s, scientists started speculating about the possibility of using nuclear energy to power spaceflight. The US

 

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