The Briefing Room
General Category => Science, Technology and Knowledge => Space => Topic started by: Suppressed on August 11, 2017, 08:39:57 pm
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NASA looks at reviving atomic rocket program
David Szondy August 10, 2017
http://newatlas.com/nasa-atomic-rocket/50857/
(https://img.newatlas.com/atomic-fuel-1.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max&h=670&q=60&w=1000&s=1754376077b837946d831e1903e5bac0)
A new engine being developed for NASA will use low-enriched uranium Cermet fuel rods (Credit: NASA)
When the first manned mission to Mars sets out, it may be on the tail of an atomic rocket (http://newatlas.com/orion-project-atom-bomb-spaceship/49454/) engine. The Space Race vintage technology could have a renaissance at NASA after the space agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama signed a contract with BWXT Nuclear Energy to develop updated Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) concepts and new fuel elements to power them.
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Excerpt. Read more at http://newatlas.com/nasa-atomic-rocket/50857/