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To enable cooperation with the AEC and keep classified information compartmentalized, the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office (SNPO) was formed at the same time. The 1961 NERVA program was intended to lead to the entry of nuclear thermal rocket engines into space exploration. Unlike the AEC work, which was intended to study the reactor design ...
Examples of concepts that use nuclear power for space propulsion systems include the nuclear electric rocket (nuclear powered ion thruster(s)), the radioisotope rocket, and radioisotope electric propulsion (REP). [6] One of the more explored concepts is the nuclear thermal rocket, which was ground tested in the NERVA program.
In May 1946, the U.S. Air Force launched the Nuclear Energy for Propulsion of Aircraft (NEPA) project to explore the potential of nuclear energy for powering aircraft. [13] [14] This initiative led to a collaborative effort of the Air Force and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) known as the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP) program, aimed at developing nuclear propulsion systems for ...
The U.S. space agency has studied for decades the concept of nuclear thermal propulsion, which introduces heat from a nuclear fission reactor to a hydrogen propellant in order to provide a thrust ...
Many aircraft carriers and submarines currently use uranium fueled nuclear reactors that can provide propulsion for long periods without refueling. There are also applications in the space sector with nuclear thermal and nuclear electric engines which could be more efficient than conventional rocket engines.
Here, nuclear propulsion moreso refers to the source of propulsion being nuclear, instead of a nuclear electric rocket where a nuclear reactor would provide power (instead of solar panels) for other types of electrical propulsion. Nuclear propulsion methods include: Fission-fragment rockets; Fission sails; Fusion rockets; Nuclear thermal ...
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.
The U.S. military is giving Lockheed Martin $33.7 million to make a nuclear-powered spacecraft. Here are the details.