The United States space agency (NASA) and the United States Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced on Tuesday a partnership to develop a nuclear-powered rocket intended to send humans to Mars.
The administrator of the space agency, Bill Nelson, said that this partnership with the US military research agency -Darpa- aims to “develop and test advanced nuclear thermal propulsion technology as early as 2027.”
“With the help of this technology, astronauts will be able to travel to and from deep space faster than ever before,” a necessary capability for manned missions to Mars, he stressed, quoted in a statement.
Darpa, the scientific arm of the US Army, is at the root of many 20th century innovations, including the Internet.
According to NASA, a nuclear-powered thermal rocket could be three to four times more efficient than conventional ones and reduce travel time, an essential part of reaching the ‘red planet’.
In a nuclear thermal rocket, a nuclear fusion reactor produces very high temperatures.
This heat is transferred to a liquid fuel, converted to a gas and, like a conventional rocket, expelled through a nozzle to provide thrust.
“DARPA and NASA have a long history of successful collaborations,” said the director of the military research agency Stefanie Tompkins, citing as an example the Saturn V rocket that sent the Apollo missions to the moon.
The development of this new type of launcher “will be crucial to transport material to the Moon more quickly and efficiently and, subsequently, people to Mars,” he added.
NASA conducted tests of a nuclear rocket more than 50 years ago, but the project was halted due to budget cuts and Cold War tensions.
Source: TSF
