The year 2027 seems optimistic for a demonstration, and the technology is unlikely to be used to send humans to Mars before at least the very late 2030s.īut something is finally happening. The technology is difficult and unproven, and there are of course regulatory issues involved with launching a nuclear reactor into space. It has the added benefit of interest from the US Congress, which has been pushing the space agency to get involved. Now, this joint project is the most serious US effort to develop the technology since then. That, if you dont know, is a super long time however, there is no experimental evidence to confirm proton decay. Americas official time is kept at a government laboratory in Boulder, Colo., and according to the clock at the entrance, I was seven minutes behind schedule. Those plans were never realized, and the idea has remained on the back burner for decades. Estimates put the half-life for protons at 1.29×1034 years. Nuclear thermal propulsion has long been a goal of spaceflight advocates, dating back to the days of German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and NASA's Project NERVA. Journey deep into the Finnish caverns where nuclear waste will be buried for millenia A hole in Finland is being prepared to contain radioactive waste for 100,000 years. DARPA will still lead the overall program development, including rocket systems integration and procurement. However, its Space Technology Mission Directorate will lead the technical development of the nuclear thermal engine, a key component of the spacecraft that will harness energy from the nuclear reactor. The US space agency will provide no direct funding at this time. "With the help of this new technology, astronauts could journey to and from deep space faster than ever, a major capability to prepare for crewed missions to Mars." “NASA will work with our long-term partner DARPA to develop and demonstrate advanced nuclear thermal propulsion technology as soon as 2027," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. So this week, NASA said it is partnering with the military agency and joining the DRACO project.
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