MY NUMBER 1 RECOMMENDATION TO CREATE FULL TIME INCOME ONLINE: CLICK HERE
Man on Mars one step closer to reality: NASA announces plans for a nuclear rocket that will reduce the seven-month travel time
NASA revealed on Tuesday that it is building a nuclear-powered rocket that could send humans Mars much faster than traditional craft – it currently takes seven months to reach the Red Planet.
The US space agency has partnered with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program, which will be tested in 2027.
A nuclear thermal missile (NTR) offers a high thrust-to-weight ratio approximately 10,000 times that of electric propulsion and two to five times the efficiency of chemical propulsion in space.
The team plans to use previous NTR designs to design the DRACO while giving it a modern twist – the last field-tested technology was more than 50 years ago.

NASA and DARPA are working on a nuclear-powered rocket that could take humans to Mars much faster – dramatically shortening the current seven-month trip
The space agency has been studying the concept of nuclear thermal propulsion for decades.
This technology introduces heat from a nuclear fission reactor into hydrogen propellant to provide thrust that is believed to be far more efficient than traditional chemical rocket engines.
In addition to a faster transit, the groups said NTR would reduce the risk to astronauts because they wouldn’t be traveling through space for as long.
This would significantly reduce the amount of time astronauts would be exposed to deep space radiation, and would require fewer supplies such as food and other cargo during the trip to Mars.
NASA is looking at the late 2030s when it will send humans to the world of Mars.
“If we have faster travel for people, it’s safer travel,” NASA deputy administrator and former astronaut Pam Melroy said Tuesday.
The NTR transfers heat from the reactor directly to gaseous hydrogen fuel.
The heated hydrogen expands through the nozzle to provide thrust to propel the spacecraft.
And the materials in a fission reactor must be able to survive temperatures above 4600 degrees Fahrenheit.
NASA has had NTR on its radar for over 60 years, first undertaking a mission in 1961.
This led then-director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun to champion the proposed mission, sending a dozen crew members to Mars on two rockets.
Each rocket would be powered by three Nuclear Engines for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA) engines – plans that were drawn up in 1961.
As detailed by von Braun, this expeditionary crew would fly to the Red Planet in November 1981 and land on this distant world in August 1982.
When he presented his visionary plan to the Space Task Force in August 1969, von Braun explained that “while this mission will be a great national challenge, it presents no greater challenge than the 1961 commitment to land a man on the moon. .’
However, this vision of human boots on Mars ended in 1972 when priorities changed and budgets for the space program were cut.

A nuclear-powered rocket would significantly reduce the amount of time astronauts would be exposed to deep space radiation, and would require fewer supplies, such as food and other cargo, during the trip to Mars.
Fast forward to the present and NASA is once again on its way to the Red Planet and has asked the US government to make it happen.
Dr. Stefanie Tompkins, Director at DARPA, is statement: “DARPA and NASA have a long history of fruitful collaboration in advancing technologies for our goals, from the Saturn V rocket that first took humans to the Moon, to robotic servicing and refueling of satellites.
“The space domain is critical to modern commerce, scientific discovery, and national security.
“The ability to make leaps and bounds in space technology with the DRACO nuclear thermal rocket program will be essential to more efficiently and rapidly transporting materials to the Moon and eventually humans to Mars.”
.
MY NUMBER 1 RECOMMENDATION TO CREATE FULL TIME INCOME ONLINE: CLICK HERE