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After the ban of nuclear weapons in space by the Outer Space Treaty in 1967, nuclear power has been discussed at least since 1972 as a sensitive issue by states. [8] Space nuclear power sources may experience accidents during launch, operation, and end-of-service phases, resulting in the exposure of nuclear power sources to extreme physical conditions and the release of radioactive materials ...
NASA artist rendering, from 1999, of the Project Orion pulsed nuclear fission spacecraft. Project Orion was a study conducted in the 1950s and 1960s by the United States Air Force, DARPA, [1] and NASA into the viability of a nuclear pulse spaceship that would be directly propelled by a series of atomic explosions behind the craft.
Project Prometheus (also known as Project Promethian) was established in 2003 by NASA to develop nuclear-powered systems for long-duration space missions. [1] This was NASA's first serious foray into nuclear spacecraft propulsion since the cancellation of the SNTP project in 1995. The project was planned to design, develop, and fly multiple ...
This list of nuclear power systems in space includes 83 nuclear power systems that were flown to space, or at least launched in an attempt to reach space. Such used nuclear power systems include: radioisotope heater units (RHU) (usually produce heat by spontaneous decay of 238 Pu)
Nuclear pulse propulsion or external pulsed plasma propulsion is a hypothetical method of spacecraft propulsion that uses nuclear explosions for thrust. [1] It originated as Project Orion with support from DARPA , after a suggestion by Stanislaw Ulam in 1947. [ 2 ]
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.
He was the first senior NACA official to show interest in rocket research, [39] had initiated investigation into the use of hydrogen as a rocket propellant, [40] was involved in the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP) project, built NASA's Plum Brook Reactor, and had created a nuclear rocket propulsion group at Lewis under Harold Finger. [41]
According to Lockheed Martin and BWXT, there are considerable efficiency and time gains from the nuclear thermal propulsion. [10] [11] NASA believes the much higher efficiency will be two to three times more than chemical propulsion, [5] and the nuclear thermal rocket is to cut the journey time to Mars in half. [12]