DARPA and NASA team up to build a nuclear rocket to Mars
The new rocket is engineered to facilitate crewed missions to the Red Planet and could be launching as soon as 2027.
To make a manned mission to the Moon possible is no difficult feat, due to its only taking days for travel; however, if we are ever going to send humans on an interplanetary journey of over 7 months such as Mars’ surface, massive advances in transportation technology must be made before any landing can occur.
To solve the long-standing issue of getting to Mars, NASA and DARPA have created an accelerated solution – a nuclear thermal engine rocket. This remarkable invention is capable of launching you to your destination in mere weeks, instead of years!
Yesterday, Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator, unveiled an endeavor to revolutionize human spaceflight missions by introducing the advanced nuclear thermal propulsion technology. With this powerful new technology at our disposal, we can now extend the boundaries of possibility for future exploration in space!
According to Nelson, this ambitious rocket project is a “major investment” and could be ready for launch as early as 2027. This powerful rocket could provide essential support in the mission of bringing humanity to Mars by the 2030s.
“NASA has a long history of collaborating with DARPA on projects that enable our respective missions, such as in-space servicing,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy.
“Expanding our partnership to nuclear propulsion will help drive forward NASA’s goal to send humans to Mars.”
