The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will create a partnership with a Pentagon research agency to develop a nuclear-powered rocket engine to send astronauts to Mars.
Both organizations, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), reported on Tuesday, January 24, the creation of the alliance, according to the report published on the website of The nation.
Bill Nelson, NASA administrator, stated that the US space agency will collaborate with Darpa to “develop and test advanced nuclear thermal propulsion technology from 2027″.
“With the help of this new technology, astronauts could travel to and from deep space faster than ever beforean important capability to prepare for manned missions to Mars”Nelson said in a statement.
Darpa is the research and development arm of the Pentagon and has played a role in many of the innovations of the 20th century, such as the Internet.
Advantages of Nuclear Thermal Rockets
According to NASA, nuclear thermal rockets can be three or more times more efficient than conventional chemical propulsion and would reduce travel timesomething essential for an eventual mission to Mars.
In a nuclear heat engine, a fission reactor is used to generate extremely high temperatures. Heat from the reactor is transferred to liquid propellant which is then converted to a gas, which expands through a nozzle and provides thrust.
For her part, Stefanie Tompkins, director of Darpa, explained: “Darpa and NASA have a long history of fruitful collaboration, including the Saturn V rocket that carried the first astronauts to the Moon.”.
“Nuclear thermal rocket program will be essential to more efficiently and quickly transport material to the Moon and, eventually, people to MarsTompkins said.
Interestingly, NASA conducted its last tests of nuclear thermal rocket engines more than half a century ago, but abandoned the program due to Cold War tensions.