Engineers say a nuclear thermal rocket could cut astronauts' travel time to Mars from nine months to two. Credit: NASA NASA and the U.S. military plan to test a nuclear-powered rocket engine in ...

As we set our sights on crewed Mars missions, we're going to have to consider some next-level rocket engines. One idea with a lot of potential is nuclear thermal propulsion.

Research into nuclear thermal rocket engines by NASA began in 1959. A key program in the 1960s, called the Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application, even sought to demonstrate the technology ...

The nuclear thermal rocket would allow transit between the moon and Mars to take less time while also reducing the risk for astronauts. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson speaks during a visit to the ...

Scientists have proposed two experimental spacecraft that could reach one of the farthest known objects in the solar system ...

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) is the preferred propulsion technology for manned missions throughout the solar system. The state-of-the-art NTP cycle is based on solid core Nuclear Engine for Rocket ...

NASA will test a nuclear-powered rocket for space travel. The technology could speed up a manned trip to Mars from the current seven-month minimum to 45 days.

Nuclear thermal rocket could speed travel in space by about 2 to 5 times and reduce travel time. DARPA says that the nuclear thermal rocket offers a thrust-to-weight ratio 10,000 times greater than ...

Research into nuclear thermal rocket engines by NASA began in 1959. A key program in the 1960s, called the Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application, even sought to demonstrate the technology ...

Nuclear thermal propulsion is a technology that can double the propellant efficiency of chemical rockets, cutting travel time by half. In a nuclear thermal rocket engine, a fission reactor ...

NASA and the DARPA’s Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations, or DRACO, program intends to use this high-assay, low-enriched uranium fuel in its nuclear thermal propulsion engine. The ...