NASA, DARPA To Test Uranium Nuclear Engine For Mars Missions By 2027 - Agency Chief

NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have launched a new partnership to develop a nuclear thermal reactor (NTR) using high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for future lunar missions and, eventually, human expeditions to Mars at two to five times the speed of current conventional chemical powered rockets and test it by 2027, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said on Tuesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2023) NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have launched a new partnership to develop a nuclear thermal reactor (NTR) using high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for future lunar missions and, eventually, human expeditions to Mars at two to five times the speed of current conventional chemical powered rockets and test it by 2027, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said on Tuesday.

"NASA will work with our long-term partner, DARPA, to develop and demonstrate advanced nuclear thermal propulsion technology as soon as 2027," Nelson said at the 2023 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) SciTech Forum in National Harbor, Maryland. "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."

Under the agreement, NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) will lead the technical development of the nuclear thermal engine that will be integrated with DARPA's experimental spacecraft, and DARPA will act as the contracting authority for the development of the entire stage and the engine, which includes the reactor, NASA said in an accompanying press release.

"Other benefits to space travel include increased science payload capacity and higher power for instrumentation and communication....Nuclear thermal rockets can be three or more times more efficient than conventional chemical propulsion," NASA said.

NASA and DARPA will collaborate on the assembly of the engine before the in-space demonstration as early as 2027, the release continued. The last US nuclear thermal rocket engine tests were carried out more than 50 years ago under NASA's Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application and Rover projects, it said.