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

There have been off and on nuclear thermal rockets program since the 1960s. In 2022, DARPA announced its goal of conducting an in-space flight demonstration of nuclear thermal propulsion in 2026. In ...

He assumes a nuclear thermal rocket will be working by the end of 2030. He says the SpaceX approach to building a lot of rockets and doing 11 launches for refueling is more complicated than getting a ...

NASA's initiatives to pioneer next-generation space technologies are also hit hard in the White House's budget proposal. If the Trump administration gets its way, NASA's Space Technology Mission ...

A nuclear thermal rocket engine in development could one day transport humans to Mars. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a research arm of the US Department of Defense, and NASA are ...

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 ...

NASA is still shooting for the Red Planet, aiming to get astronauts there by the late 2030s or early 2040s. And it still views nuclear thermal propulsion as a key breakthrough that could make this ...

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 ...

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 ...

In the 1950s, the U.S. began focusing on nuclear propulsion as an effective way to power space exploration with projects ...

Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) has stood as a promising potential alternative propulsion technology for decades. Chemical rockets have begun to reach their theoretical maximum efficiency, and ...

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 ...